Cosplay girls in Harajuku
Comments: 15
Went for a walk around Harajuku today with Lil and, of course, no weekend stroll around that neighbourhood is complete without a visit to the bridge near the station where the kids hang out in their cosplay finery. Rather than the costumes, though, I tried to get some pictures of faces. I’m not very good at taking pictures of people (I’m scared of them) so I’m trying to push myself in that direction (a little).
The kids on the bridge make it easy: they love posing for photographs and are as accommodating as can be. What’s remarkable is the total lack of ‘attitude’. They may scowl or make a face for the camera, but it’s just acting. When you’re done they’ll smile and bow and thank you so sweetly for photographing them. And beneath all of that make-up there are some remarkably beautiful people.
I’ve posted a small selection of shots from today on Flickr.
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Posted to Photographs • 2006.02.05 (Sun) • 22:54
Comments
Posted by Tim Bray 2006.02.06, 01:50
The third girl in the photoset, did you photoshop her eyes even a little? That’s a totally remarkable brown, and the match to the hair color is spine-chilling.
Posted by JCRogers 2006.02.06, 04:15
I too have a fear of photographing people. I haven’t bothered getting over it, instead opting for the long-range lens… a creepier solution than yours, I must admit.
Posted by wintersweet 2006.02.06, 04:57
The photo named Harajuku 1 in Flickr is really striking, even though piercings are usually a big turnoff for me. You should post her to /bijin/ at wakachan.org …
Tim, I wasn’t there and obviously can’t give a real answer, but colored contacts are extremely common among this kind of cosplayer.
Posted by Narayan 2006.02.06, 05:17
Photographing people is one of the only things which keeps me interested in photography. It’s certainly the most challenging type of shooting, I find, particularly in cultures in which people don’t take readily to being imaged. The process forces me to interact with people, if not through language then through gesture, which in turn influences the way I take the photograph.
Nice shots, Jeremy.
Posted by Chris Hester 2006.02.06, 05:49
That is one of the most beatiful faces I have ever seen.
Posted by Christian Metts 2006.02.06, 06:50
Great set! And I’m glad you have a flickr site. I was thinking about asking you if you did. I’m rather a fan of your photos.
Posted by jh 2006.02.06, 10:55
Tim — no Photoshopping of the eyes at all: they are indeed coloured contacts as wintersweet suggests (the girl in the thumbnail above has blue ones). And, yes, they’re common among this crowd and range from the somewhat natural to the completely and utterly freaky.
Posted by David Kaspar 2006.02.06, 20:13
Nice light on several of the faces. Was it late afternoon sun?
I agree about the difficulty of photographing strangers. I have missed some great shots on many an occasion due to being too shy to ask for permission.
Posted by music maniac 2006.02.07, 11:18
These are really cool! I love photos of people’s faces :)
Posted by Kenneth 2006.02.07, 20:32
I’d love to go there some time in my life. Seems so awesome.
Posted by kyoto55s 2006.02.09, 02:10
hi!
I live in Kyoto for a long time, and I want to go to Harajuku once. Is it happy?
Posted by jh 2006.02.09, 08:27
Harajuku, like most places, is as happy as you are. But depending on what kind of mood it’s in when you visit, it can make you feel happier, yes.
Posted by Andrew 2006.02.16, 14:09
going to Harajuku with all the crowds and the inevitable overload on the senses is something I usually dread…that is…unless you go there to take photos. then all of a sudden the crowds, the colors, the action, the people are all wonderfully irresistable
Posted by cosplayFriends 2006.09.30, 23:07
Everybody who is interested in cosplay should check out harajuku sometime …. it is the mecca of cosplay. Make sacrifices to get there! I live in Japan and have been here for three years …. believe me it was not easy :).
Posted by Kalden 2006.11.07, 11:54
OMG!!! That girl in the thumbnail above is so beautiful… Okay! I’m moving to Japan, like right now! (begins packing, books flight, etc.)
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