Fashion

When taking photographs on Tokyo’s streets, discretion is always my watchword. For starters I don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable, and more importantly — at least in relation to the resultant photo — the aim is for an image that’s natural; a moment of day-to-day life caught, uncontrolled and totally unselfconscious.

However, even with the best of intentions, it’s simply impossible to go unnoticed all the time. And yet even though I fear this look may be much nearer a glare than a glance, it’s a photograph that at the same time quite inadvertently contains far more character than it could have.

Whatever one’s profession, it must be a real pleasure if it’s also a passion, and whether she owns the shop or not, it would seem that this young woman is very happy indeed to work as a hatter.

With its bright lights and famed fashion, Shibuya is arguably the perfect place to be seen, and at the same time, not seen.

Tokyo’s many glitzy emporiums offer all the brands it’s possible to think of — and many more it’s not. But for real character, and a glimpse of how Tokyo once was (and to a certain extent still is), the city’s old and family run shops are far more interesting, if not exactly fashionable.