How to Take Better Street Photos - Work the Scene
I have a new video up for your enjoyment on the EYExplore YouTube channel! It's been a long time coming but I finally have more online video tutorials on the way. In this first video, I go into how to...
View ArticleA Cyberpunk Street Photography Workshop in Tokyo
It is no secret that one of the major inspirations for photographers in Tokyo is cyberpunk media. Although, the relationship is better seen as a feedback loop, since most works in the cyberpunk genre...
View ArticleStreet Photography YouTube Channel Update
For the past couple months I’ve been working along with the some friends to create a series of videos which are meant to be a sort of tutorial into my style of photography. Currently, they focus on...
View ArticleDeep into the Night
Recently, I had the chance to work with Samuel L. Streetlife on a video during which we shot around Ueno station one rainy evening in Tokyo. It was super fun to create this film with him and I'm quite...
View ArticleA Quest for Authenticity
I’ve been grappling with a dilemma these past months, or perhaps even years. I have this nagging feeling that producing merely ‘good’ photos is not enough anymore. Perhaps it was never enough, but...
View ArticlePhoto contests are Basically Gambling
Let’s get this out of the way: I’ve never won a photo contest in my life. I haven’t entered that many either, but most of the ones I have entered were not free. I’ll be the first to admit that I guess...
View ArticleYou Don’t Need a Camera to be a Photographer at Heart
Of course, you need a camera… right?! It’s right there in the name: from the Greek roots φωτός (phōtos) meaning "light" and γραφή (graphé) "drawing" together meaning "drawing with light." You must...
View ArticleElements of Street Photography
To be honest, I don’t think it’s so important to classify and quantify what is or isn’t Street Photography with a capital S and a capital P. All that really matters is that you’re out there...
View Article10 Photographic Fallacies
Over the years, I’ve encountered some ideas about photography—call them ‘beliefs’—that I find hold little truth. In some cases, it might be too strong to call them outright fallacies, as they come...
View ArticleThe Content Diet for Creativity
Astronauts work in a vacuum. Most artists don’t. We are always surrounded and influenced by the media and feedback from our peers. Of course, it is possible to exist as a hermit, pursuing a singular...
View ArticleLearning How to See
When we get better at photography, particularly street photography, what is the core skill that we are actually building? Certainly, we need to learn how to use the photographer’s tools: the camera,...
View ArticleStreet Photography, Mindfulness, Zen, and Flow
Have you ever lost yourself in the act of artistic creation? When I am out shooting in the city, sometimes the hours flow like minutes. Street photography can be so engrossing that it can be a shame...
View ArticleHow I Get My Colors — Tips for Editing Color Photos
Maybe a better question is: “how should you get your colors?” But more on that later. First, I have to explain my thought process when it comes to color, as it underscores my entire approach. If you...
View ArticleHow I Make a Living as a Street Photographer
I’ve been asked before how exactly I make a living as a photographer, especially since I apparently spend so much time doing urban or street photography. To answer that question, I made a vlog: How I...
View ArticleValues in Photography and Art
How do I decide how to create my art? Why do I take a photo of this but not that? Of course, we can act based on our feeling in the moment, or there is some external influence that inspires or...
View ArticleIs Street Photography Legal in Japan?
After years of teaching photography workshops in Tokyo, many of them focusing on street photography, some of the most common questions I get are about the legality of conducting street photography in...
View ArticleThe Ethics of Street Photography
In many places around the world, street photography is legal and permissible by society. I know street photography is legal in Japan, where I live, and in the US, where I grew up. However, my...
View ArticleNot the Tokyo I Once Knew
I first set foot in Japan in 2007 and I was immediately swept away by a seemingly endless metropolis packed with hidden lanes, decrepit corridors, and a patina of decay splashed with vivid neon light....
View ArticlePhotography and Ikigai
Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese word that can be read literally as a “life’s worth” but can be more appropriately translated as the “purpose of one’s life.” The term seems to have been popularized in...
View ArticleStudium, Punctum, and Street Photography
In his 1980 book, Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes introduces two concepts for understanding a photograph: studium and punctum. In this article, I would like to explain my personal interpretation of...
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