What makes Japan such an desired place for photography? I'm really trying to understand the hype around it. When I visited of course the size of Tokyo itself opens lots of opportunities but I quickly notice that it gets repetitive rather fast. All muh taxis look the same, the buildings have a pattern that repeats a lot. If you've seen a few shrines/temples.. in the end they all look the same. Even if you visit other prefectures you won't see much of a difference. Whenever I see camera vlogs or flickr uploads in Japan I now tend to skip because it's always the same. My current number one location would probably be Germany. Still safe enough to bring your camera with you, every state has it's own architectural style. Towns are usually a comfy mix between old medieval houses in the center with grim 60s bauhaus constructions that look really odd. Also home of Leica where this sort of everyday compact photography started. What do you think? What's your prefered location?
has a retro vibe, like a 90’s filter written all over it
I'm generalising, but their society values and prioritises "aestheticism" and beauty like few other places do. That mindset just naturally blends into pretty much every aspect of their life and environment.I'm not saying they don't have ugly shit, terrible places, bad people and other places around to world aren't beautiful too. My point is just when the baseline of their society values beauty at the level they do, then you see it pop up everywhere in a natural way. It's not hard to understand why so many people fall in love with the place. Kinda how people used to fall in love with Paris back in the day.It gets repetitive because of the amount of tourism they have. I saw a guy post a few photos from Taiwain on (dare I say) Reddit the other day saying something like "Is Taiwan the new Japan?" and everybody commenting on it went absolutely nuts about how racist that was to say and fuck white people and all that shit, when the guy clearly meant it was about photographer hot spots changing now that Japan has been overrun for a while. It was the most stereotypical comment section you've ever seen. It was almost like a caricature, but they were totally serious. I like the colours in the photo too, what's the source on that image?
>>4484406I kinda get what you are saying. I can't deny that they have a good sense of natural aesthetics. The way they treat and decorate with potted plants for example.Yeah, isn't the Reddit community also often very pro China? I read comments of something like "if Taiwan isn't part of China, then Okinawa should also be disconnected from Japan"Photo is from Adrien Sanguinetti. A french(?) that married a Japanese, living there and doing said photo vlogs.
>>4484424Yeah, I've been there a few times, but that was pre 2020. But I just noticed it everywhere. That natural awareness and presentation of beauty even in related to completely mundane things.I don't know, I haven't looked at Reddit enough to see if there's a big pro China sentiment. That thread was more "Don't you know the history between Taiwan and Japan you incensitive white bastard with exoticism fetish!" "I'm x-race and I think what you said is bad because of a,b and c!"The handful of comments that correctly explained what the photographer's point was all got thumbs down, minus points, bad karma or whatever that shit is called. I just had a look over there because I'm too old for 99% of the shit I see on this site, but it really is fucking ridiculous.Thanks, I'll check his stuff out. I know there are tons of other photographers getting the same look. I just really like the colours in that image.
>>4484375Your brain can immediate tell when a place has few niggers, and wants to live there. Usually it's because there isn't any rubbish on the floor.
>>4484375>What makes Japan such an desired place for photography?Nipphilics
>>4484375Kind of this >>4484455It feels like there's a sense of civic pride you don't really see in a lot of places; streets, houses shops are usually well kept, mainly because most people own the house/shop they occupy. Most street level businesses are sole traders, not chains, which gives them a less commercial more local feel, which is quaint if you're from the west.They have seasons, they have topography, they have a mix of new and old.People generally are too timid to interrupt a foreigner taking photos even if they wouldn't want you to.Also the dominance of any western currency, and the prevalence and affordability of public transport and alcohol, make any trip there fun, easy and pretty cheap.Just do it bro.
>>4484375Because it looks exotic. And they have a lot of LED lights, which looks cool.
I’d say a not inconsiderable amount of it is how safe Japan is. You can wander around taking pictures all day feeling 100% confident that you won’t be assaulted or that your camera won’t be stolen. That makes the process so much more enjoyable and relaxing
>>4484375the light is really special.i was on a train at about 5pm between nara and osaka and the light was legit anime tier. something special about the air and sun there; i meam there are no other islands nations at that lattitude to compare. maybe azoresthe hue is very warm while being crisp, can't describe it
>>4484573That's only in specific areas. My country has an area known for very special light too that attracted a lot of painters back in the day. The paintings and lighting was so popular it basically became a style/genre of painting in itself. But it's mostly just that one area that seems to get that sort of lighting, not the entire country.I do think what you're talking about could be what I see as them having four seasons, but every season seems exaggerated compared to most other places. That slight exaggeration makes for very scenic photos
Probably because it lets you take photos that look different to the photos you normally take. I don't think it's objectively better (or worse) than Western places.Case in point: Japanese people all want to visit Europe and take pictures there.
>>4484375DUDE cinematic film street japan photography cinematic. Overrated and overdone
Wow I wonder why the country that is the headquarters of Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Sony, and Olympus and is the global leader in used camera equipment sales is such a popular photography spot. I also wonder why foreigners would be interested in taking pictures of a place with well-preserved architecture and nature preserves, manicured gardens, clean streets, minimal crime, and non-confrontational citizens.It’s almost as if film and the chemistry surrounding it were optimized to take pictures of such scenes and monopolized the global film market as a result.Wouldn’t it also be wild if electronics being an integral part of Japan’s economy during the digital photography transition years certainly had nothing to do with the worldwide advertising campaigns that continue to this day.The cherry on top would be if tech bros with disposable income and no personality were to become interested in an elitist, gear-focused creative hobby and had $500 round-trip flights to Japan available to them.
>>4486072It's overdone, but it it does look nice
>>4486081>be Germany>OG country of camera headquarters>only Leica survived til now>taking photos in public is illegal if other people are captured>people get suspicious and into defence mode if you take out your DSLR>weather is grey most of times>towns are ugly, destroyed with 60s/70s communist blocks>nature is fully artificialsad
>>4486309Would have been great minus the weather had not the cursed United States interfered in ww2.
Asia liteExotic without being challenging. It's a safe place, everybody takes the same photos, nobody puts in the effort or research to find something else to shoot. Which is a shame because there is undoubtedly some interesting things to do there.
>>4486686I'd call Singapore Asia lite or a safe "My first trip to Asia" because everybody speaks and everything is written in English. It's also like a fusion of a lot of different Asian styles, so you can get a taste of different cultures very easily there. I absolutely loved it there, but obviously very different.I haven't been to Japan since 2018, but I found you still had to have some "adventure spirit" even in the very touristy areas because of language differences.Also, it may be different due to the level of tourism they're getting these days, but I found the whole "it's so overcrowded with tourists!" to be a bit of a weird statement. Because the touristy hot spot areas were still 90% Japanese people, 8% Chinese and 2% were the rest of us. I was even there during the cherry blossom season one time and it was the same deal.And you pretty much didn't see a single foreign tourist if you walked one or two streets away from the absolute mega hots spots. Seriously, you could be two streets away from Senso Ji in Asakusa and it'd be like you were in a different country. I found it HIGHLY exaggerated at the time, but it may be different now.I'm also generally tired of the whole anti-tourist sentiment. Especially when it's people who behave well.
It's the only place outside of the western world which is modern and highly developed while also having been so for a long time.China/Singapore/Korea might be more futuristic because it's newer but Japan is the only place that can mirror Europe and the USA in terms of having old wealth.
>>4486081I don't even work in a techbro company and like half my coworkers in the 25-40 age range have visited Japan or will visit Japan between 2023 and 2026.
>>4486692I'd call Singapore Asia lite Correct>so you can get a taste of different cultures very easily there. Incorrect, you can get a taste of great Indian food, but you certainly don't get a taste of India
>>4486941I know comparing Little India in Singapore to actual India is like comparing China Town in London to actual Chinese cities, but it's the closest I've been. And only getting that nice little snapshot without actually going to India is fine with me.I always tried to get some Indian food at all the hawkers I went to. It was fucking amazing. I loved being in Singapore.
>>4484375>What's your prefered location?Otaru, Hokkaido
>>4487722
>>4484375Germanbro who spent the last 8 years in Japan.It's that it looks exotic and has nice mountain ranges everywhere. I'm pretty bored of generic shrine #9762321, some ramen shop sign, etc. and much more excited about taking pictures during my trip back to Germany, because that's more exotic for me now. It just depends on what you're used to and most people are not used to Japan.Great place to be if you're into photo. You'll find a lot of elderly men taking macro shots of flowers and such. Very few prime lens shooters somehow.
>>4488047>Very few prime shootersI reckon it's because a lot of people only get to travel to places like that once or twice and want maximum versatility of a zoom lens so they don't miss out on shots. A prime is more "I'll go with my 24mm today" because you have time to just sort of do a wide angle day or a tele day. Not lugging around a ton of gear and taking in the sights is great if you have the time.
>>4488056Nah, sorry, I wasn't clear. I was talking about the old Japanese guys. They're always walking around with zoom lenses, taking pics of flowers, trains, etc. I rarely see tourists with cameras nowadays, because I don't hang out in their areas. Saw a guy with a Leica once though.
>>4488070Ah okI'm big into a lot of Japanese music and the latest fad I noticed when people shoot video at live shows is having a camera with zoom that they do these hyper in and out zooms, hyper moves to focus on different band members and sort of constantly tilting the camera from side to side in a wavy motion.It's just something I noticed with camera stuff there and I don't know where else to mention it. It's honestly really annoying how insanely hyper that camera motion/control is with the constant fucking turbo zoom in and out. It's crazy how fast something just becomes the "everybody does it" fad. Then play some generic turbo 300 bpm jrock (why does it always have to be so fast?) and the crowd says "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!" on every off beat during the intro after the singer has screamed some performatively passionate monologue for 2 minutes straight while hitting one chord on their guitar.Sorry for my rant, it's just something I noticed that's gotten really annoying to me regarding zoom lenses in Japan.
>>4488056It's funny, I use a 24mm every day for Architecture work, and I don't even like it all that much, i's just what works 95% of the time on interiors. But seeing any other shots taken with a 24 just makes me wish they were shot with an 18 or an 85+. Normal shots maketh my ass twitch. So I get stuck walking w an 85 on body, and then an 18mm, a tubby little bitch, in my pocket, which I never think to put on. Everything I do is wrong.
>>4488092If you're doing specific work, then using the right tools for the job is what's most important. But you can do whatever when it's not work related.I'm getting more into the frame of mind where I just pick one focal length for the day and then stick with it. I've been using zoom lenses for the last 15 years and fucking hated carrying that big ass camera and lens around.I got an x100vi recently with the two conversion lenses and I love how tiny and light it is. I just pick between the 26, 35 and 50 for the day and stick with it. Don't carry anything else with me. It's great. Yeah you're going to miss some shots from not having the versatility of a zoom, but having a camera that's so light around my neck that I don't even notice it massively outweighs the lack of versatility for me. It's a great and powerful little camera.I'm looking at some Nikon stuff too though that I might buy in February or something. Those 1,8 primes look great, light weight and very affordable. The 26 2,8 pancake looks very promising too. I prefer 26 over 24. It's a subtle difference, but I think 24 juuuuust has a little too much lens distortion where I find the 26 to be a cleaner look that's wide enough to justify it next to also having a 35 which is my sort of primary "scene" focal length.
>>4487722based, im spending a week in hokkaido in feb. can't wait
>>4488047i was at a park in tokyo and there was a big group of ojisans with GIANT lenses hanging out drinking tea and taking photos of birds. i wish i could have bros like them.
>>4488154>hokkaidois the most fun city name to say. Every time I say it, it comes out my mouth with all this extra pizazz, like a samurai in a 70s exploitation movie, with a big long gravelly Hhhhhhhoooo KAIDOOOOOO. I love it.
>>4488155Yeah, it's primarily two groups:a.) Retired bros with zoom lensesb.) Scrawny 20yo nerds with bigger zoom lenses taking pictures of trainsPretty sure you can easily get buddy buddy with the former if you speak the language. In my experience, old guys generally like chit-chatting with foreigners in all manner of situations.
>>4486692>Because the touristy hot spot areas were still 90% Japanese people>2018Well, now it's not anymore. Tourism areas, so anything along the golden route, is 90% Chinese tourists. And I don't only talk about Kinkaku-ji or such. EVERYWHERE. I was in Kyoto and it felt like being in Beijing because all I could hear was mandarin. It's not overreacted. You try to escape, get off the route, find qt little alleys and again a group of Chinese stands there shouting, spitting. The only days I could hear mostly Japanese was when leaving the golden route to Gunma countryside by rental car. And even there I spoted a few. Everything muh JDM and car meets is now at least 50% western tourists. But other than that western tourists are still a rare sight compared to Chinese.It may have changed again now since their based Takaichi came in.
>>4484375overrated dirty shit hole filled with indians. yawn
>>4486309>>taking photos in public is illegal if other people are capturedThat is not exactly correct.
>>4484375Fewer niggers so no undesirable skin tones in the photos.
>>4491437>Fewer niggersCould have stopped there.
>>4486309yeah germany is trash. nothing new here. only idiots will defend this godforsaken piece of land. germans were a mistake. the lands should be split up between franks and slavs.
Are people in Japan even receptive to asking for street portraits? I'd like to give it a try but not sure how it would go
>>4484375because it's foreign.. if you live in germany its scenery won't look any appealing or interesting most of the time while it will be desirable for someone across the world. But aside from that, it's just aesthetically pleasing. Even if the Japanese aesthetic sensibilities don't vibe with you, there's a reason why Japanese aesthetic was so well received in europe with the rise of "Japonisme" art in 19th century while other asian aesthetic like from China did not.
>>4496434It's been a few years since I was in Japan last, but my answer would be "it depends" on who/where/when.People generally don't really seem to care honestly, I never had problems with it. Lots of people even smiled when they noticed I pulled a camera up.They do have a ton of places with "no photo" signs, and some of them are really fucking weird when it comes to covering their faces and shit.The only people who were really weird about cameras were people outside stores, cafes, bars etc that were trying to get people inside. Not even in shady areas. Normal places with lots of people.A lot of them would wear very "loud" outfits, but then almost run away if they saw your hand even near a camera. I mean you're standing in the middle of a busy street in a crazy Final Fantasy outfit and then freak out if people notice you or take a photo? get the fuck out of here man.But in general nobody seemed bothered. Even struck up conversation with a few peeps through taking photos there.But Japan isn't really different than other places in that regard, just be well mannered and behave normally like a regular ass person would and you'll have a great time.
>>4484375It’s chock full of aesthetically pleasing places even ignoring historical places, because people in Japan are collectivist and give a shit more than others, and they have a great sense of aesthetics (just look at their kino normie fashion, cool and beautiful without vulgarity).Plus it’s the only place on earth where I can walk with a huge blob on my neck with the strap screaming CANON LATEST EOS MODEL WORTH A LOT OF CASH ON SECOND HAND MARKET at the “most dangerous neighborhoods in Japan!!!!1!” at 3 am and have an infinitesimal chance of getting robbed. Even engaging in prostitution is safe here if you’re not brain dead retarded.Not my fault everyone in the west went into “fuck you got mine” mode and the people who noticed are too retarded to understand the root cause and not fall for purposefully placed strawmen
>>4484375>overnight street parking is banned, so unlike europe where otherwise amazingly picturesque historic streets are lined to the ass with parked cars, the streets remain uncluttered by ugly vehicles>japan's geography (the entire place being covered in enormous green mountains, cities coalesce in the flat lowlands) creates incredibly dense urban and suburban areas that are brimming with janky elements>despite all its jank, the place is mostly very clean, which sets it apart from other janky places. this combo leads to the comfy feel.>zoning laws: people in japan are allowed to open small businesses from their homes in residential areas, like cafes, barbershops, clothing stores etc., as a result, these parts tend to have more things to explore compared to the typical european suburb of commie blocks or endless family homes centered around a generic local pub+supermarket>you would never find a shrine to the virgin mary on the roof of a european high-rise, yet shinto shrines are found in the most unusual places
My personal favorite is their lighting. I used to have a camera with shit AWB and i kinda got used to setting it manually, for some reason I tend to change WB maybe couple times a day at most when in japan. Go to train station, beautiful green hue from fluorescent light, walk around streets, their bright screens and signs illuminate everything hard enough to hit daytime-tier ISO sometimes, and then there's also this pretty orange tint on lights, all on the exact same white balance setting. I don't care much about accuracy and I love heavy color tints, so I dig it like nothing else, and in europe it just doesn't work the same for some reason. Maybe it's some specific light technology japan still uses while everyone else moved to cheapest LEDs they can find, maybe it's their obvious fondness for night light that results in them using brighter/higher quality stuff, but all in all, japan turns photography in various light conditions into easy mode for me.
Japan is pleasing to many photographers is due to its uniqueness and novelty like >>4496442 mentioned, and the other half is precisely what >>4484536 said - Japanese people seem to have an intrinsic quality and approach to uniformness, aestheticism and cleanliness, more so than any other culture in the world.Those qualities proliferate through every aspect of their society, from their own personalities and work ethic down to engineering, architecture and construction. It's almost an afterthought for them it's so embedded in their nature. Simply looking at a U.S. alleyway and a Japanese alley, you can see their is a natural superiority of uniformity and symmetry to the Japanese environment as compared to the USA. Even the dredges of Japan have a sense of harmony and balance, which all contributes to the general aestheticism and draw to photographers.
>>4484375Overrated and old. Low rises everywhere if you want cyberpunk try Hong Kong or China, where most of the animes were actually based on. Japan has been dead for years.
>>4486309I travel to Germany every year and I never had any issues pulling a hasselblad or nikon and shooting street photo with people on it, regardless of it being a city or townI feel you are making things up anon
>>4484375because it has SOVL
>>4486309It's not illegal lol. Clueless mutt. You'll be able to take photos pretty much everywhere.
>>4496648chinkland will never be an attractive destination until they can fix their typography and colors. Fucking disgusting teal, red, and yellow everywhere with ugly ass caligraphic typography
>>4496587This anon knows
>>4496762Not that anon, but China has a lot of very scenic places. I always wanted to go but never got around to it.
>>4484375As already said, it's the SOVL. It's everywhere in every little things, but of course soulless people wouldn't be able to see it. Which is sad, really, I wouldn't want to live such an existence.
OMG ITS SNOW....IN JAPAN!!!!
>>4496762lol cope. Greg Girard's work bodies all this Jap vending machine nostalgia shit.
>>4484375When you go to japan as an aryan white male to take photographs, it will attract the attention of local females. They wish to know everything about you and your camera. In addition they will submit to you (a white male) sexually, no matter if they are married or dating a local weaker, lesser non-white male. And as a bonus, you can also assert white male dominance to the "men" of the area if you are into that. The local photographers will get rock hard from the thought of their girlfriends giving pleasure to the white gods.
>>4496980east asian guy fuck asian girls
>>4496944Yes, it's kino. Next question.
Weebs gonna weeb
>>4496462Even in suburban parts of the US, I have to stay cautious when carrying my telephoto gear large lenses can draw unwanted attention or worse. In Japan, though, I can walk around freely with my full bird photography setup and barely get a second glance. At worst, some local might quietly mention to a friend later how much they dislike birders.
>>4497260>Bro that guy has a CAMERA and he has a LENS on it that I can NOTICE>He must be spying on CHILDREN or taking CREEPSHOTS of WOMEN from far away>Why wouldn't that guy just use a PHONE for taking photos like a NORMAL person
LOOK IT'S AN ARGENTINEAN...IN.. "JAPAN"!That's settled I'm going to publish a photo album of just random everyday objects, people, things & places in Japan with the whole post irony soijacking meme format, "THING..PLACE... JAPAN" just out of spite.Also you will never live in Japan.
>>4496980I know this is shitposting but I did get some lines and even a few dates/FWB with the type of Japanese girls I'm into (the J- fashion, Jira-kei) etc just by having my camera and shooting in my neighborhood in Yokohama.Being an American westerner isn't an insta-sexo in Japan but having a hobby like photography (which for me is justfor shits and gigs) to make girls feel and look good is a great way to meet and talk to women anywhere. Not to mention getting contacts in photography as a whole.I lucked out because I met this (https://www.instagram.com/junhazuki_style/) photographer that frequents a ramen Joint in my neighborhood who introduced me into his models/studio. But ngl getting introduced with alt-Japanese girls is a massive coomers perk, and they are some of kinkiest women in bed.And yes I know my photography sucks...
>>4496944>the windings on the wires>all of them>the quaint mix of serifed and sans fonts>the childlike designOther places aren't like this
I haven't been to Japan since 2018 and the shutter in my camera died the first day I was there. Would love to go back and just stroll around with my new camera, have lots of time and no plans.
>>4497263Real. Post covid, Americans lost their fucking minds. The Japanese are as judgemental as anybody else but at least they mind their business if you aren't committing a crime/being anti-social.
STREET... PLACE, THING, IN JAPAN!!!
>>4497556FALLING ROCKS SIGN!PLACE, THING, IN JAPAN!!!
>>4497557A MOUNTAIN ROAD.PLACE, THING, -JAPAN-
Does Hiroshima really upset the Janny that much? Hollyshit?NUKE SITEPLACE, THING, -JAPAN-
>>4497717Hiroshima is da best
RUINED BUILDING,PLACE, THING, -JAPAN->>4497722Well apparently it ruffled the jimmies of the resident /p/ Janny not that I give a fuck.I actually live in Hiroshima as an American just recently bough a house here. Imo it's the best most western city in Japan, and easy to drive around.
YOU GOTTA STOP!PLACE, THING, -JAPAN-
>>4497726Bruder you need to make a zine or photobook of PLACE THING JAPAN.The normies wouldnt get the irony and suck that up like cum off a hookers knob
>>4497724Hell yeah, good for you man. What kind of job do you do? Hiroshima was the first place I stayed in Japan (bit more than a month, then moved around), I think in terms of size and access, it's perfect. Reminded me of the scale of my own hometown, complete with trams, but better.
>>4497726>>4497558>>4497557>>4497556What lens?
>>4497556>>4497557>>4497558>>4497717>>4497724
>>4496648Hong Kong now looks kinda like any other major metropolis IMHO. Since the government made some changes in the shop signage laws or restrictions the streets look boring. I mean the shops can still have nostalgic neon signs however they need to comply to new set of laws which the shop owners don't care about I believe. So now the streets of Hong Kong just look like any other place.>>4486081Normie forgot Pentax-Ricoh.I'd say these Japanese camera brands only lived to be so strong is because of pricing, tech and quality... but perhaps mostly pricing (value). Where as Kodak and all the German brands just became too expensive and low tech.But honestly I'm not complaining because I am that normie that wants value for the purchased products rather than brand orientated trash.
>>4484406Agreed, but I wanna add that what makes Japan aesthetically interesting is their priority on the little things. In America, Europe, and China, there tends to be more effort into making things look cool based on how important they are, but Japan is weird because they just try to make everything look kinda interesting, even if it doesn't matter. Actually, I think if you're not a visually perceptive person, this aspect of Japan becomes invisible, which is why the whole "thing: Japan" meme became so popular. You won't notice for instance that Japanese cities are unusually geometric (including the cars), that they are strikingly clean, that they're made of very expensive materials on average (like ceramic exterior tiles which are very expensive to clean) and wood which is chosen specifically because it ages beautifully. I love how China looks for different reasons, but you can't just photograph a random street in China and get something captivating like Japan. If you're doing China, you want to get the big megastructures, the skyscrapers, the skylines, the universities, the sprawling concrete paths. A skilled artists can make anywhere look beautiful, but Japan makes it easy.
>>4497727I have to a do comparison shot of this meme IRL for the cover of the book. I travel back in forth state side often so it be easy to do. I just don't know a good spot/scene to start off on and soijak looking friend/model.
PARKING LOTPLACE, THING, -JAPAN-Get with the times man...
>>4497814>goes to japan>land of photographic plenty>all of his pictures are complete dogshit anywaythis tells more about you than it does the place, anon
>>4496587>>you would never find a shrine to the virgin mary on the roof of a european high-rise, yet shinto shrines are found in the most unusual placescan you find a shrine to the virgin mary on a japanese high rise?
>>4497731F1.2 85mm but I also use a 1.7 45mm. Honestly the larger lenses aren't practical and I'm using my s23 ultra more these days.>>4497850>Hedoesn'tgetitHow do you live with this chronic seething? Thank you for proving my point with the, "OMG JAPAN!!" meme/stereotype.
>>4497934>nooo i was just pretending to take bad pictures to prove a point
>>4497746>Hong KongI'm going here in about 2 months having only been once before, is there anywhere at all that's still grungy? I remember that the streets were much more interesting when I traveled north outside the tourist trap areas.
