On Photography - the relationship between objects and people - Daido Moriyama (Summer 2005)

Traffic Barrier - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 22 Sep 2012)
Daido Moriyama (*) gives an insight into his photography when asked What do you want viewers to take away from looking at your photos?:

Most of my photographs are taken on the street, of objects on the street.

I want to capture the relationship between objects and people.

I don’t ever think about what people are going to think looking at my photographs.

There are many things I can’t control.

That viewers see the photographs in a different way is really important, but it doesn’t influence the work.

My message enters the image, but I think it’s good if many messages enter the image, not just mine.

via Daido Moriyama Photographs His Beloved Shinjuku (*).

Intersection - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Intersection - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 19 Sep 2012)
The first steps on the way to and back from Mt Fuji that day. One of the better Intersection photos from the trip. A little bit of rain always helps saturate the colours.

Night Lights - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 19 Sep 2012)

Night Lights - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 19 Sep 2012)
The view from the room of our hotel in Shinjuku on a rainy night.

On Remembering - Daido Moriyama

Shinjuku Lights - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Mon 17 Sep 2012)
Daido Moriyama (*) at Rabbit Hole Tumblr (*)

I think that the most important thing that photography can do is to relate both the photographer and the viewer’s memories.

For me and my ever failing memory, this is exactly what is the beauty of photography. While I am failing to remember names and the little details that make life easier in the connected world I engage in, I can remember my feelings and memories. Photography helps but, oddly enough, I also have a photographic-like memory for my feelings and scenes that catch my eye.

I can look at any one of my 100,000 digital photos that I have taken over the last 12 years and tell you where it was taken, why I took it and what I was feeling at the time. Amazing really. Thank you photography, I am a better person because of you.

Intersection - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Tue 18 Sep 2012)

Intersection - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Tue 18 Sep 2012)
Rei Shito (*) on her street photography (*):

With street photography, I can meet many, many people I’ve never seen, and hear their stories

via Japanese Street Photographer Rei Shito Branches Out to London (*).

An approach to street photography to aspire to. Have just added her stylefromtokyo blog (*) to my Google Reader.

The Streets of Tokyo - Jim Clinefelter (flickr)

The Streets of Tokyo (*) by Jim Clinefelter (*)
Found via Littlefields Photography Magazine By Jim Clinefelter (*) by Japan Camera Hunter (*).

Definitely worth following the flickr link (*). Have to get myself one of those magazines.

Compact Camera - Diado Moriyama (YouTube)

Compact Camera - Diado Moriyama (*) / Youtube (*)
An excerpt from a longer video which I will put here soon.

Great to see him in action on the Streets of Shinjuku which I recently wandered myself. I like this quote from a 2005 Interview (*):

My photography is about desire. The internal world meets the outside world and takes shape. When [my] desire takes some kind of shape, it becomes a photograph.

A photo I took using my iPhone - the battery on my S95 was well and truly flat..
Shop Front - Times Square / Shinjuku / Tokyo (Mon 17 Sep 2012)

Fire Hydrant - Times Square / Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 21 Sep 2012)

Fire Hydrant - Times Square / Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 21 Sep 2012)
Drawn to this banal scene by the shadow of the chain and the little bit of red

Umbrella - Times Square / Shinjuku (Sat 22 Sep 2012)

Umbrella - Times Square / Shinjuku (Sat 22 Sep 2012)
The light was very nice here - soft and even.

Portrait - Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)

Portrait - Jinbocho / Tokyo (Thu 20 Sep 2012)
He stopped to talk to us. He had spent a year in his school days in America and his English was perfect. He worked at a Lawson Store (*) and it was his day off. He told me about the Kinokuniya (*) in Shinjuku (*) near where we were staying - literally 5 minutes away. I would visit the book store a few days later.

I asked him whether I could make a photo and he kindly obliged. I regret that I forgot to ask for his name until after we had parted.

Realised it is going to take a lot of practice to become anywhere near as good as Shot by Shooter (*). The background is hard bit and that will come with time. Just happy to have made a start.

Natural light using my tiny Canon S95.

1:47pm - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Tue 18 Sep 2012)

1:47pm - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Wed 18 Sep 2012)
Thank you Japan - an amazing country. Will definitely be back.
Lots more photos to follow over the next few months.