Tokyo (mostly) in monochrome

Hello again from Tokyo

Spring is very much in the air in the Japanese capital. The warmer weather has been with us for a while now, and the famous cherry blossoms are already past their best.

The latter aren’t something I particularly seek out, although they do appear as backdrops to some of my photos. That said, I once took a picture of a cat wearing pearls sat in a cherry tree. So here’s that one for something a bit different.

New autumnal Japan workshop

After the success and enjoyable nature of our winter photography workshop, my friend Giovanni and I will now be conducting an autumn outing. Another 8-day trip that will also combine landscape and old school street photography — elements that lean into our individual strengths as well as giving the workshop a unique set of offerings.

This is the info should you be interested: Japan November Photography Workshop 2026 — Autumn Foliage with Urban and Rural Nostalgia.

And these are some of my promo photos chosen for the old school streets and nostalgia element of the trip.

The Vanishing World zine

Last month, Bump Books released a zine of my work. The process was interesting as I didn’t choose the photos included. Something that can be challenging, as not only do my favourites change over time, but I invariably have memories attached to the images I’ve taken, making it difficult to be objective.

Thankfully I’m very happy with the resultant selection, and indeed the zine as a whole. It’s relatively small in regards dimensions (210mm x 148mm), but it nonetheless still boasts 25 photographs.

There are details here on the Bump Books website, plus I have a limited number of signed copies available that I’m offering at a reduced price in combination with an A4 print of the overgrown car shot below — or a print of your choosing if you get in touch before ordering. Available from my shop should you be interested, with free worldwide shipping included. Prints, books and my Tokyo Photowalk Tours are a big part of my business, so all support is very much appreciated.

Tokyo (mostly) in monochrome

And finally, the main topic. The Japanese capital in black and white. Well, mostly Tokyo along with a couple of other locations.

I used to take a lot of black and white photographs. The main reason being that I found the myriad of colours one sees in Tokyo incredibly distracting — their presence often seeming to confuse rather than compliment the image.

Gradually, however, I began to see those colours as not only important in capturing how Tokyo actually looks, but also as key parts of the overall composition. So nowadays, while I still enjoy looking at black and white images, I very rarely ever think of shooting that way. An approach that admittedly may change, and it’s easy to imagine I’ll go back to taking some, if not necessarily many, monochrome photos. For now though, it’s colour all the way, so looking back at these images gives them extra interest. For me at least, anyway. Not only was it a different time, but also a different way of thinking. One of the many steps in my photographic journey, of which all being well there’ll be many more still to come.

Thoughts that wrap up another newsletter, so thanks a lot for subscribing, and please do spread the word if you enjoy these updates.

Speak to you in the next one.

Cheers

Lee