Stekki 12: Paul Rasmussen in Akabane

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paul rasmusssen | alfie goodrich | the people & streets of akabane a japanorama production | japanorama.co.uk/stekki

no.13, august 2015 < japan, fashion, photography, lifestyle, life

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素敵 すてき su-te-ki /ste ki/

adjective: beautiful, great, lovely, splendid, wonderful, nice

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index/ credits

credits EDITOR IN CHIEF Alfie Goodrich.

SPECIAL THANKS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hiromi, Joe, Ami and Charlie [for putting up with and supporting me throughout the years], Gianluca Carrero [for the initial magazine template design], Matthew Lamb [for that chat in the van, on the way back from Kinugawa]. produced by japanorama www.japanorama.co.uk/stekki

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WELCOME TO STEKKI

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n the course of my work here in Tokyo as a photographer, I get to meet lots of lovely people: clients, models, owners of the business premises I am shooting, drivers, artists, government officials.

Sometimes I get to spend some time with folk who are travelling to Tokyo on their holidays, keen to get some focused, practical photography and travel tips whilst they are in town.

Paul Rasmussen is one such person. He contacted me some time ago, in advance of a family trip to Japan, to talk about how we might get together and do a couple of days of photography with each other.

Paul is married to a Japanese lady and

together with family they spend at least one holiday a year in Japan.

He’s a keen photographer, accomplished within the subject matter he likes shooting and has a good understanding of the camera. There were some things he was keen on learing whilst he was with me and I devised a couple of days in which we could work on a project [which you see here] and nail some other things he wanted to get his head around; namely offcamera flash and lighting for a project he is doing back home in Europe.

Alfie Goodrich, Editor in Chief Photograph by Lisa Fujiwara www.paintwithstars.com

At the end of the two days, I was sad to see Paul leave.

But I know he’ll be back and I’m lookin forward to that already!

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A random number generator brings Paul and Alfie to the characterful streets of Akabane.

Photos: Paul Rasmussen

DOWN in ‘VILLAGE’ TOKYO A

kabane is one of those spots in Tokyo that has a special charm all of its very own. It is unpretensious, down to earth and has a surprise around every corner.

Whilst a lot of what I would call ‘village Tokyo’ is like that - surprising, quiet, charming - Akabane has a few foibles which make it really special.

Why did I choose Akabane for Paul and I to visit? Well, I didnt. A few times in the past - for workshop ideas and just to get myself walking around somewhere different for a change - I have employed the website Random.org to choose my locations for me. Random.org is a random number generator and my way of using it is to give each main rail hub in Tokyo a number, total up the number of train lines emanating from or passing through each hub and then, finally, give the stations on each line a number. In this case Random picked ‘1’ as the hub [Ueno], ‘2’ as the line [Keihin Tohoku Line] and , counting back from the end of the line in Omiya, we got station number ‘10’: Akabane is the tenth station from the northern end of the line. So our location chosen, off we went. It would be my fifth ot sixth time in the area and, as usual, I was to find a lot of new locations as well as some old favourites.

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Two local kids having some fun with a few vintage arcade machines out on the street in Akabane.

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Akabane is well served with train lines and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy and quick to get to from the centre of Tokyo. Akabane is marked in blue text, around the centre of the top right section of this map.

LEFT: A local shop in the characterful backstreets north of the station. stekki_11

Our walk took us to a great neighbourhood near the station, filled with old restaurants and shops. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an area I have walked many times but it never fails to surprise.

RIGHT: One of the things that fascinates me is the stuff that you find pressed up against and showing through windows. Paul got the bug too... and this one he captured is a great example of the variety of stuff one person has in their room!

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A local garage owner who we chatted to a for a while. He was a lovely old chap, very happy to pose for us and took no directing. I think heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s used to or likes having his photo taken. stekki_15

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DOWN by the RIVER The playground that time has passed by Photos: Paul Rasmussen Text by Alfie Goodrich

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AKABANE riverside playground

Four visitis, and I’ve still never seen kids playing here.

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here is a little playground won by the river, north of Akabane station by about 15 minutes easy walking. It’s a curious place; full of what looks like slides, toys and playthings that date from the late 1960s or 1970s.

In all the five years since I first found it, and on each of the four or five visits I have made to the playground, I have yet to see any kids playing there.

It sits between an old Shrine and Edogawa River and most interesting to me is the object that looks like a flying-saucer or aeroplane. I can’t make up my mind which it is.

The shot on the right facing page, opposite, is a detail from this object.

Then there’s the elephant

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you can see in the opening shot and some camels; all concrete, all rather timeworn and neglected. It’s a wonderful and curious spot and has plenty for the photographer: textures, the conjunction of the different objects and colours and the light towards the middle of the day is always wonderful.

I’m planning to do a fashion shoot here very soon. I think it’ll suit some edgy fashion shots very well.

Paul got some great shots here. You can find a few more of mine, from a previous visit, here: http ://japanorama . co.uk/2012/04/19/ photowalk-backstreetjewels-in-akabane/

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In Paul’s words....

“Akabane is not showing off with high buildings or posh avenues; there is no ‘see and be seen‘ here. Akabane however is showing its own distinct character with several small nuances that can be found and explored around the very next corner. Akabane is not afraid to show its real beauty, you just need to be ready and open yourself to a new friendship with an urban densily inhabited district embedded in the most populated urban area in the world – Tokyo. You will find a variety of shops, bars and restaurants in its mostly narrow roads that don’t follow any particular rectangular layout, giving you perfect corners to rest for some time and observe the village like life. Some shops and signs are so old that you get the feeling that Akabane does not want to let go of its history. It is almost as if Akabane plays hideand-seek with your photo camera; always ready to reveal a new little secret. The little village also demonstrates energy to keep up with the pulse of its mother-city. When walking the streets of Akabane, I got the sense that people really feel at home here and even show a healthy portion of pride for where they live and what they do!

I had the pleasure to spend two very interesting days with Alfie starting with the challenge of visualisation when walking the streets of Akabane. Making me understand how information partners in a picture and how a story can be told and tension can be built up in a single image has enhanced my ability to work on more eyecatching scenes and given me a tremendous amount of motivation to push myself. We have further worked on difficult light situations, shooting flash, shooting monochrome and dived into post processing workflow. Locations were Akabane, Shinagawa, a quiet library and the Hasselblad venue in Tokyo.

Besides all the knowledge and tips Alfie has shared with me, I’m inspired by his professionalism.

On my flight back from Tokyo to Zurich, I spent two hours writing several pages of all the things I have learnt; two pages alone are merely on the topic of what makes a professional photographer.

It has been a pleasure and honour for me to work with and learn from Alfie who truly lives the statement: “There are no DOs and DON’Ts – the only mistake you can make is to leave your lens cap on!”

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