A unique and beautiful bonsai
With 2018 still in its infancy, this unique and beautiful bonsai seemed like a suitable image to start the new year. Hundreds of years old, the tree’s recorded age is only approximated. Similarly, the scores of people who have nurtured and shaped it over those tens of decades are completely unknown. Each and every one of them, except of course the present custodian. The anonymous preservation and attempted perfection of the bonsai their only goal, as in the end, it’s arguable that the beauty of today is all that really counts, along with whatever can be saved and passed on to tomorrow.
A selection of my favourite photographs from 2017
With the year rapidly nearing its end, it’s time once again for a selection of my favourite photographs from the last 12 months.
Compared to the stress and worry of the previous few years, 2017 has definitely been an improvement. Most importantly of all, my wife got a second major all clear in her on-going recovery from cancer. Another huge relief, and another huge step forward in regards the future. Her life saved, without any doubt whatsoever, by a well funded and affordable health care system.
On a further positive note, it has once again been a fulfilling year in regards photography. My completed and now properly organised portfolio has allowed me to sell more images than in the past, and in doing so, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing my work appear in a wide variety of publications. Also, I’ve just recently put my knowledge of Tokyo to a slightly different use by starting bespoke photowalks of the capital — an endeavour that will hopefully gain extra traction in the coming months.
Yet more than anything, photography has, as ever, been a wonderful source of fun and exploration. The simple pleasure of being out with a camera, and the added joy of coming back with a half decent image every now and again, is simply unbeatable. It’s also an escape, in some ways, from a world that all too often seems increasingly divided and full of prejudice. At the same time, however, being out and about taking photos is also a way to meet a whole host of different people — individuals who, just by being themselves, invariably prove there is still way more openness than hatred in society.
And so, after a much lengthier preamble than planned, we can finally get round to the photos in question. Images that were chosen for a variety of reasons. Some because of what they mean to me personally. Others because of the story they tell — or at least hint at. And the rest because I simply like the results. Oh, and they aren’t in chronological order, just how I feel they work best.
A set that nicely wraps up Tokyo Times for the year. So, until January 3rd, when normal posts will resume, Happy New Year, and all the very best for 2018!
A cheeky Merry Christmas
Putting a very different kind of X in Merry Xmas.
Happy drinkers in a grubby little Tokyo bar
The beer was cheap, the decor faded and the clientele all incredibly friendly.