50mm

Taking a break for medium format I went back to shoot with the rangefinder for a while. These shots are a mix of 35mm and 50mm all shot at night in various locations but on the subway and the JR.

This past weekend I spent the day changing all my chemicals to new ones. My fix has now changed back to Kodak and is slightly more concentrated than before. The jars that hold the 1 gallon A and B solution needed to be scrubbed and chiseled at to remove the years of build up of gunk at the bottom.
As a result of all this work my negatives look amazingly clear. It’s easy to let quality slip as chemicals start to slowly die and it’s difficult to notice until it’s too late (or not at all in my case for a while).

Shooting with the Rollei 35 is very hit and miss. The focus is all based on distance. There is a finder but you cannot see the focus through it. And shooting at f/2.8 at night and candid photos at that makes this task even more difficult. So I was surprised to see this shot turn out so sharp.

Caught him early one evening on the way home.

Man reads a morning newspaper. Caught on the edge of the frame with the Rolleiflex as I went to work.

From an ongoing series that doesn’t seem to have a beginning or an end. This guy at first glanced looked drunk but after closer inspection seemed to have something else wrong with him.
This was taken at about 8:45am which, as you can see from the onlookers reaction, gained a bit of attention. He managed to get on the train and pass out again and then somehow remembered his station and got off only to pass out again on the platform.
Never a dull moment in Tokyo.

Shot (like usual) on the way to work.

This particular shot I like because of the light on her face and the softness of the shot in general. Difficult to find in stations.

Random girl found of the street that would pose (with assistance from friends)

He started it. I’m only following.

Connections to title…

This created by Peter Saville reminded me of this (wrong song for cover art…still…) which is where I stole the title from.

Looking for a way to escape, he looks back only to discover the best possible route blocked.

No eye contact, head down, no speaking with anyone. 8.3 million people in this town (source – probably more now) and my version of Tokyo seems like an endless stream of the same.

See this kind of thing every day. Hard to photograph at this angle though.

It’s so easy to go to sleep on the train in Tokyo.

Resting up outside Bic Camera in Shinjuku.

Daytime photography. Something I really don’t do much of in Tokyo. Tokyo by day is ugly. Real ugly. Ugly enough to have to shoot in black and white. So, being a night shooter I’ve always got my camera loaded with 1600 asa (iso to you post film people). During the day this means f/16 and hope like hell the shutter speed is fast enough. The magic thing about f/16 is no focus! Which is why I can point the camera behind me, hope like hell and take the shot.

I think the strap adds a level of genuineness to the picture

Sometimes a girl needs accessories in her bag. This one seems to be bigger than most.

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower. Shot with Jon’s XpanII.