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Posts Tagged ‘street’

PHOTO OF THE DAY #361

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Harajuku Shopfront” : Tokyo, 20th March 2012

I made the mistake of venturing into Harajuku on a weekend, and immediately regretted entering this crowded nightmare of teenage fashion boutiques and attention-seeking idiots.

Quickly dashing into a backstreet, I was pleased to discover not only a largely human-free environment, but also a wealth of interesting little details to photograph.

I’ve no idea what this place was, nor why it was called ‘soap.’ It didn’t appear to be selling that useful commodity, so who knows – but the frontage was appealing in its choice of colours, and hence the target of my Nikon…

Click here to see a larger version of this photograph.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #346

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on April 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Tokyo Old and New” : Shibuya, 17th March 2012

Every now and again as you walk around urban Japan you catch a glimpse of another world, a world which has largely vanished.

Here, as a mass of modern Tokyoites begin to cross the road, a young woman wearing a kimono starts to cross in the opposite direction. Talk about ‘going against the flow!’

I say kimono, but not too sure that’s the right technical term, since there is more than one traditional garment which can make it confusing for those not within the culture.

During this trip I also managed to stumble into a traditional wedding at a Shinto shrine, in which the ultra-formal versions of traditional Japanese attire are worn : I’ll be posting those soon…

Click here to see a larger version of this photo.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #345

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Shibuya Street Spotlight” : Tokyo, 17th March 2012

Another shot from what must be one of the world’s busiest street crossings, in trendy Shibuya, which I must admit is not one of my favourite parts of Tokyo.

Shortly after taking this and quite a few other similar shots, I headed for the Apple store (the main reason I’d come), then quickly exited the crowds for more tranquil neighbourhoods…

You really should click here to see a larger version of this picture.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #342

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Tokyo Crossing” : 17th March 2012

Shibuya is one of the busiest, most crowded parts of Tokyo, and nowhere in Shibuya is more crowded that the large crossing just in front of the station.

I don’t often photograph people, but taking heart from another guy clicking away on his Canon, I too positioned myself to catch the wave of everyday folk as they set off across the road.

I still feel slightly uneasy about doing this kind of work, and that’s probably why I’m not very good at it, but it makes a change from architecture and the abstract, right?

You can see a larger version of this photo by clicking here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #293

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Night Tram” : Lisbon, Portugal, 7th September 2011

There’s something wonderful about riding a tram. It has far more charm than a bus or a train. Maybe it’s because many tram systems in existence today are ancient and creaking, like this one in Lisbon, an obvious reminder of the past. What I like about them, though, is their immediacy and connection with the surroundings: other forms of transport are more speedy, but seal you off from the places you are passing through, whereas the old tram, with its open windows and doors and snail’s pace mean that you are much more in touch with the environment.

Hiroshima, the city I live in, has trams too, but these days many of the old stock have been replaced by sleek, newer, more efficient models, which are good, but lack entirely that thrill of riding a rickety old one.

Count yourself lucky if the place where you live still has such gems rattling around…

See a larger version of this photo here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #291

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Architecture at Night” : Lisbon, Portugal, 7th September 2011

It’s now five months after I came back from my last European adventure, and, unbelievably, I’m still working through the photos I took. I blame in on using the RAW files and buying professional post-processing software. With all that going on, I can only do four or fives pictures a night, since each image has to be treated individually to get maximum benefit from the technology. And I take thousands of pictures…Ah, I’m almost nostalgic for the days when I’d just yank the JPEG straight out of the camera and do nothing except a bit of levelling, since I’m one of these idiots who just can’t seem to hold a camera straight.

You see, people, too much tech can be a hindrance as much as it can be a help.

It’s a good job I’m too poor to go on a trip this spring vacation, otherwise I’d be backed up until next Christmas….

Anyway, tonight’s photo – a modern, but classically styled building whose perfect lines and symmetry just looked so gorgeous under subtle lighting that I knew it would make a good image. It’s not even a famous building, and whoever said that symmetry wasn’t beautiful? (Probably me!).

You can find a larger version of this image here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #287

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Osaka Neon” : Osaka, Japan, 26th December 2010

Here’s one of the things that Japan excels at: neon by night. Huge cities like Tokyo and Osaka are fun and exciting to explore after dark with garish signs and blaring sounds bombarding you from all sides – just like the movie Bladerunner. You don’t really need to worry about personal safety, either, as you would in many other countries, because nothing’s going to happen to you.

By day, though, it’s another story – the intrigue of the illuminated night is replaced by the other side of modern Japan – dull grey concrete, and lots of it, with not a scrap of green to be seen anywhere. Two sides of the same coin…

You can find a larger version of this photo here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #278

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on February 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Photographing the Photographer” : Lisbon, Portugal, 7th September 2011

More surreptitious underhand invasion of other peoples’ privacy from Portugal, and no, I’m not entirely sure where the apostrophe is supposed to go in the possessive plural of the word ‘people,’ but hey, I’m just a professional teacher of English, so what do I know.

Talking of things I don’t understand, the number of visitors to this blog went nuts the other day: for 6th February I got two hundred times the usual minute tally. Very nice, but it’s like the 72-second extra-terrestrial radio signal picked up by SETI on 15th August 1977 – an anomaly of possible major significance, but utterly inexplicable.

And no, I haven’t been drinking – why do you ask?

A larger version of this incredibly awesome image can be found here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #247

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Riot!” : Bologna, Italy, 26th March 2011

Taking this picture made me feel like a real journalist, and some people who saw me must have thought I was indeed a news photographer.

It’s interesting how images can be deceptive, however. The police were not really blocking the road, and the students just entering the picture from the left were allowed to pass on towards the university campus to continue their protest with no violence or arrests whatsoever.

The picture seems to tell a rather more sinister and threatening story, though, but in truth it wasn’t a riot at all, and the officers were quite friendly towards those airing their grievances, as if they had witnessed similar scenes before.

What struck me in particular, as a resident of Japan, is how such scenes would never play out in my adopted home, where students have been so mollified by wealth since the radicalism of the sixties that they are almost totally apolitical and lethargic about serious issues. And this is not a good thing, in my opinion.

You can find a larger version of this photograph here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #235

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on December 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“Curious Canine” : Lisbon, Portugal, 5th September 2011

I’m not a great fan of dogs as a rule. I prefer cats (and live with five of them), but I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of this photogenic little fellow in a Lisbon side street last summer.

Looks like he was checking me out as much as I was him…

See a larger version of this picture here.

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