Photographs from a small group of islands
When working in a seedy part of the city, it would appear that cigarette breaks aren’t necessarily much of an escape. Or at least that’s certainly the case in this passageway, as the smoker below is the second young woman I’ve photographed there. The first, should you have a similar soft spot for such squalor, can be seen here.
Or at least a Japanese dude?
The sight of people way past retirement age still working isn’t an uncommon one in Japan. In fact it isn’t even unusual on the pages of Tokyo Times. There’s a shoemaker still plying his trade in a wonderfully archaic workshop. A long since ex-French chef still cooking up a storm. Plus another septuagenarian bar owner in no way ready to put her feet up just yet. But as old as those people are, they act nothing like their years, energetically going about their business in the manner of someone much, much younger.
This woman, however, is a different story altogether. Admittedly she may not be the oldest. Your guess is as good as mine on that one. But it would be difficult to find a shop owner looking any more world-weary.
He surprised me. I surprised him. But a post-shot mutual nod made our brief passing an unexpectedly pleasant one.
For a city that in many ways seems unfriendly to animals, there are a surprising amount of stray — or at least semi-stray — cats knocking about. Creatures that whether scavenging, or more than likely cajoling food from some of the capital’s many cat fans, seem to survive quite comfortably. Allowing them to roam Tokyo’s alleyways fairly care free.
