The clamshell phone and cigarette weren’t a surprise. The close proximity of a foreigner with a camera on the other hand, most certainly was.
Salaryman surprise?
Photographs from a small group of islands
Photographs from a small group of islands
The clamshell phone and cigarette weren’t a surprise. The close proximity of a foreigner with a camera on the other hand, most certainly was.
sullivan says
i want to take photos about people like your photos but i wonder do i have to ask them before i take it 🙂
Hans ter Horst says
I like to do some street photography from time to time when in Japan and I often ask permission; the problem is the moment you ask and they give permission, they strike ‘the pose’ and I ended up with a fun photo but not with something I was looking for. The appeal of Lee’s photos is that the people are acting naturally yet he usually is a tiny bit part of the photo in the reaction of the people he is photographing which really works well for me.
As for the legal side of things, I have seen many assumptions about what applies in Japan or Tokyo but nothing really quoting a proper resource. If I get told off, I would oblige, is my current strategy 🙂
Lee says
Thank you very much!
Yeah, asking people to if it’s ok to take their photo may well be deemed the right thing to do, but like you say, it makes for very posed, and thus in many ways false, images. That said, I do sometimes ask, if there’s simply no way to be even slightly discreet — like this lovely old lady I took recently. But those situations are very rare.
Just be bold Sullivan. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Well, most of the time!
Hans ter Horst says
Haha, I bet a second later he dropped his cigarette! 🙂 Great expression!
Lee says
He may well have done! Pretty surprised, wasn’t he?
Matt says
The expression really is the photo. I need to have the confidence to just do it.
Lee says
Yeah, definitely. Some days I feel bolder than others, but the more you force yourself to do it, the easier it becomes.
Jiro says
Every time you take a shot of an old bloke, they always look surprised and really pissed off.
Bloody gaijin
Lee says
I know. I’m sure ‘bloody gaijin’ is what they are muttering under their breath!