Photographs from a small group of islands
The uber-efficent delivery of food is a tried and long tested process in Japan. Traditional bicycle transportation may well have (mostly) given way to faster motorbikes, but invariably it’s still the fella who made the dish that also delivers it. And while a well-known American company is very visibly making inroads, there’s thankfully still lots of sights like this on the roads.
Last week, with the help of a friend who has both the means and the experience, I produced some gallery quality archival prints from a handful of selected photos. The aim, when shipping from Japan finally returns to normal, being to try and sell a few.
Having someone there to not only help, but also guide me through the selection of paper and so on was invaluable, and in the end, the monochrome matte prints in particular stood out. Results that needless to say I couldn’t be happier with, prompting me to immediately start thinking about other photos that might work just as well. And as the bar scene below possibly fits the bill, as well as being an image I have a real soft spot for, I thought I’d post it.
Shot eight years ago in a place that was demolished a month later due to the building’s age and general disrepair, it now has the added element of nostalgia. Not only for the remembrance of a setting that’s long gone, but also in regards the much more recent period before the pandemic. A time so simple that the only precaution one needed for a night of beers and yakitori was to know when the last train home was.
Sometimes, some scenes look tailor-made for the right person to walk past. What I didn’t realise until it happened, however, was that in this particular case, it was actually two people I was waiting for.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku remains an interesting place to visit every now and again. The views of the city below are obviously quite something, but generally I go there to try and take pictures of people looking at said views, or even people looking at me, looking at them.
At the moment, however, it’s rather different. The crowds are gone, and a once bustling observation deck is now almost eerily quiet, making it the perfect spot for solitary reflections.
