Tokyo ... camera fashion blog. Really.

jan normandale

jan normandale

Film is the other way
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Seems there's a 'camera fashion' blog based in Tokyo on line. It's an interesting thing to watch because more fashion trends now start in Asia.

Check it out. Tokyo may become the modern day "to do life list" requirement for all film photographers. Film's not dead... yet.

http://tokyocamerastyle.com/
 
You gotta love this ...


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The Japanese seem to have turned cameras into modern day fetishes, although it's hard to understand what spirits would choose to live in these bits of metal, plastic and glass. Rather than the photos themselves being valued, it seems more like the camera itself is valued, and lends value to the photos created, more as artifacts of the process than the goal. Fascinating, but in some ways troubling.
 
Krzys said:
Anyone who knows John Sypal and reads his blog valerian will know that he is no hipster fashion monger. 🙂

http://kenshukan.net/john/
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Yes, I've had his blog linked on mine for a while now. Excellent stuff.

Thanks, Jan, for the link. Makes me wish I had never sold my Olympus O. I would look really cool hanging out with it.....well, I take that back. At my age, I am beyond looking cool anymore....😀😀
 
Pickett Wilson said:
The Japanese seem to have turned cameras into modern day fetishes, although it's hard to understand what spirits would choose to live in these bits of metal, plastic and glass. Rather than the photos themselves being valued, it seems more like the camera itself is valued, and lends value to the photos created, more as artifacts of the process than the goal. Fascinating, but in some ways troubling.
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Cameras have been fetishized for a long time and I'm not even sure tha Japanese started it. It's also not that hard to understand why cameras lend themselves to being a fetish. The complicated mechanics, the cold metal, the shiny surface of the lens (and, of course, its phallic nature) all make the (classic) camera a prime candidate for fetishism. The camera is not a simple tool like a hammer. The camera is a complicated piece of machinery that can be set in motion with the press of a button. It can be controlled but it still has an air of autonomy, a spirit if you will. (You press the shutter but the camera takes the picture)

Honestly, I don't find the fact that some people value the camera more than the images it produces troubling at all. Some people also buy expensive knives because they like to cook, not because they like to eat.
It's a different matter, of course, if someone buys cameras just to look at them on the shelf. That's a neurosis (some people call it 'collecting') and one might find that troubling but I don't see anything wrong if someone likes nice cameras because he gets a joy out of using them.
 
That's how people like to act - either 100 cameras or 100 pairs of shoes. There's connection - cameras can make interesting pictures of feet wearing shoes.
 
Love that blog, I got nothing against marveling at "camera fashion". In fact I like it. As rangefinder and leica users, i'm pretty sure all on this forum are the same, even if they don't like admitting it.
 
I love this blog... not really about fashion though, or the quotes by Eggleston and Araki-San wouldn't be there... it would be some designer or something...
 
Well this is fascinating. All these people, tourists and residents, out with their favorite users, on the streets & in trains.... it restores my faith in people and film.

I'm a little surprised at the large number of people using lens hoods. I'll use them if I can keep track of them, but disorganization wins out mostly.
 
I wonder how many of us have checked to see how our camera is "presenting" itself when slung over over our shoulder before we walked out the door? Is it hanging straight? Maybe I should wear the black one w/ this instead of the chrome one? Makes you question our sanity doesn't it?

Fausto, I had the same problem w/ lens hoods as well. Finally solved it by getting lens caps for my hoods. Now there's really no reason to take the hood off unless I'm changing filters. If you're carrying a folder though that doesn't work. I shoot only B&W and nearly always w/ a yellow filter, so I made sure my filter is affixed to my lens hood at all times.
 
Steve, thanks for the tip. I think we should have a thread just for camera tips!

About the blog, what's funny is that I rarely see anyone else in NYC shooting film, let alone using some fairly exotic equipment. I must not be hanging out in the right places.
 
Fausto said:
Steve, thanks for the tip. I think we should have a thread just for camera tips!

About the blog, what's funny is that I rarely see anyone else in NYC shooting film, let alone using some fairly exotic equipment. I must not be hanging out in the right places.
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I rarely see anyone in NYC using any camera that isn't a tourist. I've been out and about with M2 and now my M8 and I never see anyone. The only thing that happened is that I stopped on a sidewalk to take a photo and a girl stopped so I could take the photo without interuption...she said the only reason she stopped was because I had a Leica. 😀
 
Hi everyone! I'm surprised at the responses here. I figured it would die. There's a bunch of comments from everyone that has made me 'rethink' cameras. The original article was a curiosity which I knew was probably important. South East Asia is a hot bed for so many things from commerce, fashion and trends. What's going on there eventually shows up here in varying degrees.

I think I'll pick up the RSS feeds for some of these blogs you've noted. They're different from those here in North America. Overall difference seems they are more about the "using" of cameras than about the images from the cameras. It's like "cameras = blackberry" for SE Asia compared to North America.

I wonder who's right about cameras ?

... now which camera should I carry today... ;D
 
Small correction: Japan is generally considered to be Northeast, not Southeast Asia.

jan normandale said:
Hi everyone! I'm surprised at the responses here. I figured it would die. There's a bunch of comments from everyone that has made me 'rethink' cameras. The original article was a curiosity which I knew was probably important. South East Asia is a hot bed for so many things from commerce, fashion and trends. What's going on there eventually shows up here in varying degrees.

I think I'll pick up the RSS feeds for some of these blogs you've noted. They're different from those here in North America. Overall difference seems they are more about the "using" of cameras than about the images from the cameras. It's like "cameras = blackberry" for SE Asia compared to North America.

I wonder who's right about cameras ?

... now which camera should I carry today... ;D
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