Week 41

Typologies and The Traffic Cones

I read another book by the Bechers a few weeks ago and was inspired to try a typology of my own in Tokyo last week. The Bechers were very particular about lighting, the weather, time of day, film and camera placement before even taking the photo. I, on the other hand, went for spontaneity.

I decided to go on a walk and the first repetition I started seeing on the street were the traffic cones. They were on nearly every street I turned down and came in so many varieties and colors. I tried to maintain some balance and correlation with the framing and camera settings, but other than that, I just kept walking, finding more types of cones and shooting. I'll definitely go back and do color someday, but you can almost tell what color they are even though they are black and white. An ignored urban eyesore or tiny cityscape peaks of potential street art that goes unnoticed?













All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 40

The Tree near the Train

This tree caught my eye this week. Thought it looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie.






All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 38

The Dazai Osamu Overpass over the Chuo Line

This train line overpass between Mitaka and Musashi-Sakai was apparently used by Dazai Osamu in his time living in Mitaka. He supposedly drowned in the Tamagawa Canal which flows past Mitaka and Kichijoji, but is now nothing more than a shallow creek. I followed the map of the other famous sites he frequented in the area.



The steps and bridge were built in 1929 and have remained the same since. The above picture of Dazai was taken in 1947.










Due to the holidays, the week 37 post was delayed. So two posts this week for the second week of January. Happy New Year!
All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 37

The Candid Starbucks Shots

Just before Christmas I secured my camera on the table at Starbucks and randomly took shots of passersby.

Although most of these shots look eerily candid, the majority of Philip-Lorca diCorcia shots were meticulously staged and the lighting thoroughly planned.



I wish I had the time and patience to do the same...unfortunately these were not staged, but somewhat interesting.








All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 36

The Imperial Palace Walk

I recently took my first walk around the Imperial Palace. The hike is about 5 kilometers and takes about an hour and a half. It's surrounded by a moat and is a great way to see the heart of Tokyo. Although my pictures of the areas around the moat are quite gloomy and no where near as good, I was reminded of a book by Koji Morooka called Remembrance of Tokyo.

We also spent this week roaming around Tokyo with our good friends Ben and Michelle who are currently residing in Seoul. We'll always remember Christmas 2008 in Tokyo. You can check out their weekly photos and musings of Seoul at Seoul Connection
We had a great time here Tokyo. Thanks for coming you guys!







All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 35

The Abandoned Bike Locks










All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com

Week 34

The Parking Spots

So I took these shots on a random weekday last week on a break...
Tonight as I'm looking through the negatives, I was reminded of yet another Ed Ruscha book called Thirty-Four Parking Lots. (Very rare and available at Bondi Books)


It contains aerial images of LA parking lots (actually taken by Art Alanis). I'm not so fond of the photos, but I like the theme and Ed's simple cover.

Japan's parking viewed from the air would be totally different. Probably invisible because most of them look like the images I got this week. Covered or in some kind of ramp or carousel form. A parking space is ridiculously expensive here. Downtown can cost you 30,000-60,000 yen a month and look how beautiful they are!

Oh...I also happened to notice this was Week 34. Thirty-Four Parking Lots? I'd like to say I planned it, but I'm not that organized.








All photos are the property of Tyler Ensrude at
www.tylerensrude.com