Shooting at night, or in the rain, isn’t the kind of photography I do a huge amount of. Manually focusing while holding an umbrella always makes the latter less appealing. The relative lack of the former, on the other hand, is harder to explain, except perhaps that when meandering around after dark, an old and character filled little bar can easily feel like the more enticing option.
This small series of images then was taken recently on one of my Tokyo Photowalk Tours, a walk that provided the perfect reason to be out and about when normally I wouldn’t have been. Designed to cover the quiet and busy, people versus no people, it proved to be a fun and varied combination. The resultant photographs also turned out quite pleasing, which will hopefully give me the requisite push to make similar walks a more regular part of my personal work.
Sean says
These are super cool. More like this please! 🙂
Lee says
Thanks a lot. Haha, I shall try and make more of an effort!
Paul says
Always a pleasure to see your work.
The first one, that’s Ueno, right? I remember enjoying a beer in a place that looked like this. I found a bad photo taken in 2017. I loved that place so much. Especially the narrow street with tiny bars/restaurants at the foot of the subway tracks. No tourists at all.
Lee says
Thank you very much. Yeah, that’s right. Ueno. Such a wonderful location. One I’ve photographed a lot, although mostly in the daytime.
A lot more tourists these days, although that said, not as many as in other areas.
Tanaka says
Careful about taking pictures of people in Japan (and in many other places in Asia) without consent. We don’t like it and might show displeasure but culture forbids us from directly telling you to stop in most cases. If you read the air, you’ll know it’s wrong.
Lee says
Hmm, we shall have to agree to disagree. I have read the air, and most of the time I think it isn’t wrong. Many famous, and also not so famous, Japanese photographers clearly feel the same as well.
Also, from my experience, culture doesn’t forbid people from saying no. And when they do I respect their wishes.
Tanaka says
I have had too many experiences where the photographer takes the photo first without asking permission. I told them I don’t want to be photographed and to please delete it. All the time they said they have a legal right to take public photos and refuse to delete it. I have never met a street photographer who respects wishes.
Daniel says
Tanaka san, sorry to hear about your experiences. Here in Japan it is legal to take photos in public places. They are not obliged to delete the photos even if you object. No criminal offence, only in some rare situations it is a civil offence but hard to prove and you need to get a lawyer. I had similar incidents to yours, the photographers were polite but firm that it was legal and they won’t delete. They took the photo and quickly walked away, I had to chase after them to ask them to delete. They politely refused. It is just something we need to live with, that’s how street photographers are, but they are operating legally. 我慢して、仕方ないね。
cdilla says
Ah, night time in Tokyo. A section of your portfolio that really makes me miss the city – even in the rain. And it’s not an aspect I get to photograph myself much at all. So thank you for these. No suprise that the phone stands out for me, but the matching road marking and the green dot on the manhole cover… I just don’t know how you do it.
Lee says
Thanks. It is nice to shoot at night now and again, no doubt about it, so you are very welcome.
Thought you might like that one, and yeah, the matching colours were quite something. Mercifully no waiting involved with this one though. It was all just there, waiting to be photographed.