autumn colours

Change is a measure of time and in autumn this seems more evident than the other seasons. The environment transforms from solid colours to soft earthly tones. Wandering the streets of Tokyo one notices the gradual change in the colour palette of the local's attire.
I love the colours that the autumn sun projects onto objects and the shadows that it creates. The romanticism in the hues that comes naturally when you shoot photos during this season is addictive.

weekend photos

Tokyo is such a photogenic city. I can wonder the streets for hours pursuing moments to capture. The most interesting places are usually on the back streets and in alleyways. Armed with my Canon 40D I decided to go for a long walk around the Omotesando and Aoyama area. I began my walk from Seibu Shinjuku station. The journey would take me 40mins to walk to Harajuku. Along the way I encountered many furniture shops, nice offices, ramen shops, and cool little boutique stores. I walked for five hours. Here are some of my favourite shots from that day.

quote

the incident last night reminded me of a dialogue from the movie Waking Life. It's during an encounter with a female stranger on the streets. This sums up the Japanese society that I now live in and how last night was an exception.

Hey. Could we do that again? I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know?
I mean, it's like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another, continuously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us.
Stop. Go. Walk here. Drive there.
All actions basically for survival. All communication simply to keep this ant colony buzzing along in an efficient, polite manner. "Here's your change." "Paper or plastic?' "Credit or debit?" "You want ketchup with that?"
I don't want a straw. I want real human moments. I want to see you. I want you to see me. I don't want to give that up. I don't want to be an ant, you know?

the perfect end to a day

It was a crisp Autumn night. As I was walking home from the station tonight I noticed a beam of light behind me. From the corner of my eye I could see that it was a bicycle light, about ten or so metres away. As usual I stepped aside and didn't pay much attention. The light got closer.
Was this someone I knew, I asked myself?
Curiosity made me turn my head. Cycling next to me was an old man. He looked somewhat homeless. We nodded in acknowledge to one another, he then proceeded to speak to me in Japanese. His tone was story-telling-like. His words sounded important even though I didn't understand a single word of it. Despite this I did appreciate his company so decided not to interrupt. I intermittingly nodded and made eye contact to signal my continued interest. The one way conversation lasted for 2mins, I waited for my cue to talk. He finally paused.
I replied in Japanese that I didn't understand as I was from New Zealand. The old man gave me a surprised look as he hopped off his bike. I looked Japanese he said as I deciphered his words and hand gestures. To my surprise he spoke back in English. "Old timer, old timer", he kept repeating after which he continued to deliver more unknown Japanese verbiage. What was comprehensible was that he lived near where we met and that he was 70 years old.
Our encounter lasted for about 7mins before he hopped onto his bike and said "きをつけてね". Take care I repeated back.
As he rode off into the distance I remembered that I had my camera with me. I should have taken his portrait.
Even though I did not understand what was being said to me, the old man's words seemed comforting and beautiful. As if he wanted to tell me something important. I guess I would never know, but this did leave a smile on my face. I walked the rest of the way home alone.

people

I've had the privilege of meeting some interesting people lately. I believe most people are good in this world. When I have the pleasure of meeting like-minded individuals, there seems to be an instant bond. Our friendships and relationships are generally based on mutual respect, on sharing similar hopes and dreams. Of course, learning is a big part of being creative. Sharing is a big part of learning. People tend to have big hearts and interesting minds. This inspires me.

lomography

I recently purchased a Diana F+, a plastic medium format camera with a 35mm film backing. I was intrigued by the photos posted on Flickr and wanted to experiment on my style. The allure is in the grainy low quality images that it's plastic lens produces. The photos are a different style to what I usually shoot as the composition is never what you want. Here are a few from my first couple of rolls. These were shot on 35mm colour negative film.

esquisse 01

Living in a delirious city such as Tokyo can fuck with ones mind. Thoughts can be deranged, dreams abstracted, while at the same time, inspirations are manifested. I guess a personal note of all this was inevitable. I needed to record all this, much like the photographs I take.
The intention here is to share these thoughts with you through words, photographs and drawings. In the process of all this is the hope that my way of thinking improves through intellectual discourse and feedback.
Esquisse: the beginnings of an artist's sketch is the French definition for this word; such an apt title for this initial anecdote.