Black & White Tokyo Street Photography

Going to be exploring Tokyo in B&W with my Fuji XT5.
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Camera Bodies
My Everyday Compact Camera / Ricoh GRiii - amzn.to/3HWqe2j
My Main Workhorse for Photo & Video / Fujifilm XT-5 - amzn.to/3oYey8Y
POV Camera
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Lenses
My Light & Compact Standard Zoom Lens / Sigma 18-50 mm f2.8 - amzn.to/3qCdp7p
My Most Used Prime Lens / Fuji XF 33 mm f1.4 - amzn.to/43xnLnz
My Favorite Focal Length / Fuji XF 56 mm f1.2 - amzn.to/42EHCjw
Perfect for Street & Documentary / Fuji XF 23mm f2 - amzn.to/3NXM0pD
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#japan #fujifilm #streetphotography

[@richardrainsford4500]

Very nice!

[@jamesford_jp]

😁

[@monikabrandenstein5011]

An aesthetic highlight and a brave and at the same time good idea ;-) to combine this (really interesting) black and white video (which actually has the quality of an art short film) with Beethoven's “Mondscheinsonate” and Chopin's “Nocturne”. What a strange mood comes over me when I watch and listen, a kind of nostalgia, melancholy is palpable. But with every face that I can take a closer look at - especially in the attached photos, but also in the moving images - in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, it becomes clear again that every person can be understood as an individual, each with their own biography. In the densest crowds in the big city, these “biographies” can come very close or touch each other. This film automatically makes me very thoughtful - even in retrospect - which I see as a positive effect. A nice technical side effect is that in the inserted photos - e.g. 3:21 - 3:24 - 3:27 etc. or 6:08 - this is also where the Nocturne begins - only the music can be heard and the sounds of the city take the background. There are so many individual sequences in the film that really touch me and I can't list them all individually here - perhaps just two examples 8:45 or 8:49. And at 9:06 we can see you at work briefly. I had to smile and thought of Alfred Hitchcock, who always included himself in his films ;-). And look, was that 9:25 a Rolleiflex? Or maybe a Hasselblad? ;-) I am not sure. Kind regards, and have a nice sunday.

[@jamesford_jp]

Wow! To be likened to Hitchcock really put a smile on my face. Thank you! 😆 I’ve always loved Beethoven and Chopin, so I was happy to include their scores to help breath life into the film. I wanted this video to have a much slower and methodical pace than my usual work, especially since Shibuya itself is anything but slow and can be mind bogglingly chaotic at times, so it just seemed like the perfect match to include the “Moonlight Sonata” and “Nocturne.” :) I believe it was a Rolleiflex, but I didn’t have a good look at it. Have a great weekend :)

[@kendrasananikone]

beautiful! makes me wanna go back to japan!

[@jamesford_jp]

Thank you!

[@romorikawa4351]

Incredible 📽️

[@jamesford_jp]

Thank you!

[@monikabrandenstein5011]

At this point I would like to briefly note that I have seen this video many times and always consider it to be one of your aesthetic highlights. Strangely enough, when you look at it, a decelerated feeling arises - a kind of "counterfeeling" to the feeling that you experience when you are actually in the middle of this accelerated urban world. It is conceivable that the accompanying pieces of music clearly support this feeling when watching this video. As an experiment, you could imagine a new walk like this with headphones and the same music in your ears as you walk. How would you feel if you walked through the same area with this equipment? On the other hand, this visually aesthetic black and white character is of course no longer present, which in my opinion also contributes to the feeling mentioned above. But maybe a walk with headphones and the same musical “accompaniment” would be exciting for you, or what do you think about that? Would it be possible to free yourself from the logically real impression of being a part of this hectic environment and, under the influence of this wonderful music, to feel more like an “individual loner, in harmony with yourself”?

[@jamesford_jp]

Firstly, it makes me really happy that you enjoy this video enough to revisit it. Thank you, that means a lot. Now to answer your question: I’m not sure. While I do think that is an interesting idea, I don’t normally walk around with headphones+music during my photo walks because I need to use my ears for auditory awareness. Not just to pick out photo worthy moments, but also for safety… 😅 I’ve had a number of cyclists almost run me over because I wasn’t paying attention while framing up a shot, so I can imagine listening to music as I compose will only exacerbate that. Secondly, I also just enjoy the ambiance. I like listening to the sounds of life in the city as I walk around, as it helps me to feel more present in the moment and mindful. I think that alone is a big reason why I never listen to music on my walks. Still, you bring up an interesting idea that I may want to think about some time 😊

[@monikabrandenstein5011]

@@jamesford_jp Oh yes - I can understand that it is far too dangerous to walk through the urban jungle with headphones on while taking photos and filming, no matter how valuable such a sensory experiment - or now I prefer to call it a thought experiment - might be ;-) While watching (and of course listening to!) this video, I asked myself: How would you personally feel if you actually had the selected music in your ears while walking? Preparing and completing the video, inserting the photos, editing the images including inserting the music - these are jobs that require full concentration, especially on technical details. In the end, you, like us viewers, receive the “visible and audible” final product that results from your work. The sensitivity of your sensory attention directly in the real situation/location and directly in the moments of your activity is different than that which we all (including you) feel when viewing the “finished artistic-design work” including the “audio version”. If we only carry out this “experiment” mentally and not actually, we can only speculate about our individual sense of experience on site. But it would be irresponsible to plunge into such a real adventure completely thoughtlessly. So, James, please continue to take good care of yourself and don't let me convince you to do such a dangerous reality experiment ;-).