ArtGuest UserOctober 16, 2022japanese, subculture, original, culture, photo, photographer, photo series, japanphotography, tokyo

Eavesdropping on Tokyo’s Conversations

ArtGuest UserOctober 16, 2022japanese, subculture, original, culture, photo, photographer, photo series, japanphotography, tokyo

The Nippon capital is vivid in all of its tall, shimmering buildings and ever-growing innovations.

Convenience and accessibility are like catchy hymns sung by Tokyo, so being five steps ahead of other metropolitan civilizations in terms of technology and design is quasi-normal. Visitors and too many citizens pass by the discreet doors that actually hold the roots of the city: worn-out sliding doors opening up to retiring izakayas, fading posters, and wrinkled but sturdy hands. This is when Lee Chapman, with his gracious talent for photography, immortalizes these waning sceneries.

Moving to Japan in the 1990s, the UK native Lee Chapman quickly found a home in the shadows and crevices of urbanity and the Japanese countryside. The street photographer knows all about the array of mangas, the bright light of the konbinis, salarymen, Lolita fashionistas, and robot waiters, but that’s not what catches his eye. To Chapman, the complexity and diversity of Japan’s culture fascinate him, as the layers of generations and traditions create an evergreen foundation for modernity.

Looking through Chapman’s Instagram feels very personal; it remains nostalgic although most of the subjects of the photographs are so far removed from our bustling contemporary lives. It’s as if he captures all of the background noise to create a timeless symphony.

Lee Chapman particularly likes dim bars, washed-out buildings, milky harbors, and opaque forests, and grinning grandpas and grandmas constitute the best of his pictures: with the aging population of Japan, it’s imperative to keep the legacy of these people alive. Entertaining conversations about grief, hospitality, and humanity, Chapman’s art is just like a cool cup of barley tea in the humidity of Japan’s hottest months, ordinary yet intimate.

“Tokyo Conversations” is his newest photobook, to be released on October 2nd. A collaboration with an equally accomplished street photographer, Giovanni Piliarvu, the book was built on the catch-and-ball of both photographers, creating a “conversation” about this ceaseless city.