3 days in Tokyo

Like allot of people I am taking this third lockdown quite allot harder than the first two. January is always a tough month for many reasons, and this added confinement really is a test. 

Although we all know why we are being asked to “lockdown”… Continued fudging, half measures and a long series of late calls by the government are giving me a deep sense of mistrust in their leadership and it’s hard to see a  clear way out of this crisis. Sometimes it really does look like they either don’t care, or are simply not up to the job. What recourse do we have? four years time will be far too late for many people sadly.. In my opinion ministerial sackings or resignations are an important part of the political process. It allows a chance for fresh blood to try new ideas, and the fact that not one minister has left post due to the poor handling of this crisis (not to mention the use of OUR money) is quite worrying. Unity Government? 


Another difference in this winter lockdown is the fact that I personally know at least twenty five people who have now contracted the virus (including me), where as in the first two lockdowns I didn’t know anyone who had suffered with it which has certainly brought it closer to home.

All we can do is struggle through, follow the simple rules, trust the science and along with the arrival of spring hope that the vaccine works as well as it is supposed to and things start to improve. 


I can remember in the first lockdown people were talking about how we can try and embrace the fact that things may not go back to the way they were, finding positives from the situation. But I have to say the more I have thought about this the more I can see those points of view come from places of privilege, a group of people for whom the world changing dramatically wouldn’t really be affected. A group who are already in a position to be able to transition to a remote way of life. Even down to those who can afford to isolate properly, have food delivered, adequate tech devices etc and those who are not. There has always been a big divide between the haves and have nots, but this will probably become more and more apparent as the fallout from the pandemic starts to bite.

It may be sensible to mentally prepare for the fact that this is  probably going to go on for quite a long time, and things may well not go back to the way they were, especially travel and international work.


Through this time I have been looking through some old work, especially images which I have taken around the side of my professional commissions. usually whilst travelling and on days in-between shoots. I have a Fuji Xpro1 which I only really use for this kind of work, it usually sits gathering dust and is picked up at the last minuet to join me on a trip… when I remember! 

This range of Fuji Xpro cameras are designed with analogue controls, like an old style body, but also have a digital viewfinder so you can take photos in the traditional way but with the control to have as little amount of exposure info in the viewfinder as you want. It is also possible to use them with pre-sets to match the Fuji film types such as  Velvia, Provia etc.. And I do think that they have succeeded in making a very emotive feeling to the raw images even before you put them through your editing process. 

This re-edited set of images was taken during a trip to Tokyo in 2018. I barely had any time in between the shoots, so most of these are taken from taxis, en route to a location via public transport or at night during my down time. I really do enjoy shooting quickly, and trying to capture the experience of a new place through images and hopefully that comes across in this set. 





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