Perhaps the easiest city to be a photographer in.

July 10, 2009 3:37 AM

Tokyo Undressed- one excellent photo after another, and another, and another. WARNING: nipples!

WARNING: may contain traces of nuts (page 2).

posted by mhjb (45 comments total)

Interesting photos, and yes, Tokyo is great for taking pictures (Chiba? Not so much), as there's nearly always something that can catch your eye, if you look for it. In conversations with Japanese friends, though, they rarely seem to notice a lot of these things. If you point them out, they'll think they're nice enough, maybe even as fascinating as you find them. Most of the time though, it's head down, one foot in front of the other, oblivious.

I wonder, though. Perhaps the photographer might consider two websites? The breasts and nipples are indeed photo-worthy, but when one photo is a breast, and the next photo is a little girl in a park, chotto-squickishness.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:03 AM on July 10

Ah, but the nipples are ART, see.

I mean, I actually don't know. There's so much vaguely-arty plausibly deniable respect-yerself-in-the-morning porn on the internet. I just can't even tell anymore what's art and what's a handjob with a veneer of respectability.

But the other pictures on there? Yes. Absolutely. Art, and damn good art at that. So I'm guessing prolly for those whose taste in nip shots hasn't been horribly coarsened, those count too. And if the nudes drive in traffic and get his other pics attention, then I'm all for it.

What creeps me out is that goddamn grin on the stuffed tiger his girlfriend's always rubbing up against. That shit's just weird.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:47 AM on July 10

I like many of these, and I think they're good pictures. Many of them are a tad too precious for my taste, though. I like the ones that are more ordinary, and less freighted with captioned meaning.
posted by OmieWise at 5:01 AM on July 10

blog is blocked now?
posted by infini at 5:09 AM on July 10

WARNING: not ENOUGH nipples!
posted by poppo at 5:11 AM on July 10

I see what they did there.
posted by America at 5:12 AM on July 10

looks like a hell of a good weekend
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:38 AM on July 10

Ghidorah:
I wonder, though. Perhaps the photographer might consider two websites? The breasts and nipples are indeed photo-worthy, but when one photo is a breast, and the next photo is a little girl in a park, chotto-squickishness.

I didn't notice the little-girl-in-park juxtapositional squickiness, but I too wondered: 80% of these photos are gorgeous renderings of the particularities of a giant city. And then the other 20% are chicks sticking their hands in their underwear.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:45 AM on July 10

WARNING: not ENOUGH nipples!

Really? There is a lot of nudity in there, with a lot more than nipples exposed.

Some of the photos are really good, others not so much. But the good ones are good enough to make it worth skipping by the less good ones. I think it gets smuttier as you go back in time; the newer photos are better, in my opinion.
posted by Forktine at 5:48 AM on July 10

80% of these photos of this guy's thoughts are gorgeous renderings of the particularities of a giant city. And then the other 20% are chicks sticking their hands in their underwear.

There, fixed!
posted by nosila at 5:51 AM on July 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

I have these salt and pepper shakers. They're the cutest thing ever: they interlock and hug each other.
posted by lostburner at 5:54 AM on July 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

I also love the salt and pepper shakers. If you ever come across a way to acquire those please share.

And then the other 20% are chicks sticking their hands in their underwear.

giggity giggity!!!
posted by a3matrix at 6:17 AM on July 10

a3matrix, here you go.

Also in pink & red.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:24 AM on July 10

I don't get the title of this post: Perhaps the easiest city to be a photographer in.

Why?

You're saying other cities don't have good photographers? Or conversely, that a photographer in Tokyo has it easy?

If either is the point you're making, I so do not agree.

(Disclaimer: I'm from Tokyo, for whatever that's worth.)
posted by thread_makimaki at 6:40 AM on July 10

Mine came from a craft shop in Ocean Beach, San Diego.
posted by lostburner at 6:45 AM on July 10

Metafilter: a handjob with a veneer of respectability
posted by Pollomacho at 6:49 AM on July 10

I thought many were flawless & wonderful (but I have rather obvious taste, I'm told.)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 6:55 AM on July 10

@thread_makimaki the title expresses my awe at the all-over-pretty of nearly everything I have ever seen of Tokyo.

(Disclaimer: it was also a cunning way for me to invent the HangingPreposition tag.)
posted by mhjb at 6:56 AM on July 10

I love this dirty town!
posted by Artw at 7:11 AM on July 10

This is the first time I've been faced with the "Ik ga akkoord en wens door te gaan" and "Ik wil niet doorgaan" dilemma.

Anyway. Would this be all that interesting to people if it didn't have pictures of attractive naked young women?
posted by pracowity at 7:18 AM on July 10

They have clearly been photoshopped. You can see that the left and right breasts are far too symmetrical to be accurate. I've created this animation* to demonstrate the impossibility

*I did not create the animation, nor is it of breasts, and I suppose unless you work in Germany or some place not run by lolxians, it could possibly be NSFW - previously).
posted by Pollomacho at 7:21 AM on July 10

wow, my very first!

Metafilter: And then the other 20% are chicks sticking their hands in their underwear.

I too, have those salt and pepper shakers. Village Vanguard shops in Japan have them. They are adorable, in that they hug. Even better, when separated, they look like adorable little zombies, searching the tabletop for little delicious braaaaains. Y'know, to shower with salt and pepper.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:27 AM on July 10

These are the kind of photographs I love. Thank you, mhjb!

[/me lusts for a D90, not that it'd make me a better photographer]
posted by rmmcclay at 7:40 AM on July 10

Interview with the artist.
posted by white_devil at 7:53 AM on July 10

I rather like the pics of chicks sticking their hands in their underwear.

OTOH, I rather like the other 80% too.

The presentation format of blogger is unfortunate.
posted by Bovine Love at 8:00 AM on July 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

The presentation format of blogger is unfortunate.

At least it's not flash.
posted by device55 at 8:04 AM on July 10 [2 favorites has favorites]

Why can't we work on the simple assumption that kids under a certain age ought not go to some sites and that parents can tell them which are not ok for visits? I assume that if a kid (say 16) wants to go to Metafilter, and see this post, he or she is not going to change their mind because--wow! a warning about nipples...I do recall seeing nipples many ears ago, when I was breast fed--ah, those were the good old days.
posted by Postroad at 8:33 AM on July 10

The nipple warning probably wasn't for kids, as it then definitely would have had the opposite effect. Rather, it was probably intended for the people who's slave masters think them experiencing 'joy' while on company time is a crime, however absurd that notion is.
posted by klue at 9:03 AM on July 10 [2 favorites has favorites]

Forget the nipples...I need to know where I can get those salt & pepper shakers online.
posted by the bricabrac man at 9:11 AM on July 10

Hehe, once again metafilter skips sex for food (or at least salt and pepper shakers).
posted by dabitch at 9:35 AM on July 10

The post title is awkward. It should read "...in which to be a photographer within of."

As for art v titillation, you can tell which ones are art because they are B&W.
posted by Mister_A at 9:42 AM on July 10 [3 favorites has favorites]

I call photoshop!!!

oh, wait...wrong thread...never mind</small.
posted by jasper411 at 9:42 AM on July 10

Or conversely, that a photographer in Tokyo has it easy?

Having lived in Tokyo for 8 years, the latter I would think.

Tokyo is the most dense ~400 square miles of people, places, and things on the planet. Still ratty in places while in other places shiny spanking new, and the intermixture is endlessly fascinating.

I took this one on my bike, but it shows what is probably 4 generations of buildings in one shot -- Taisho, mid-Showa, bubble-Showa, and early Heisei.

Not too long ago I figured out Tokyo was so special because, much like pre-war London, it has had essentially the rest of the Japanese economy if not much of the world's feeding its wealth into it over the past 50+ years.
posted by @troy at 9:54 AM on July 10

'Salt and Pepper shakers' is a euphemism for nipples, right?
posted by mazola at 10:00 AM on July 10

'Salt shakers' is a euphemism for 'nipples, right.' 'Pepper shakers' is a euphemism for 'nipples, left.'

Those with a third nipple will need to add another condiment. I suggest tabasco, but I guess some folks aren't into that.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:04 AM on July 10

Mister_A: As for art v titillation, you can tell which ones are art because they are B&W.

This is like my dad, who insists that the first (and only) requirement of poetry is that it rhyme.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:05 AM on July 10

I suppose there is some compelling imagery in there. This guy is essentially a formalist who allows enigmatic or unexpected visual relationships in the frame provide content. Which is a method (or style, take your pick) that I particularly appreciate. Puts me in the mind of Ralph Gibson. 22% NSFW, however. There are some pretty damn explicit images in Gibson's work. (For those of you who require more nipples/hands in panties. Including even, somewhere in his four decades of photography, some blowjobs with a veneer of respectability!)
posted by barrett caulk at 10:41 AM on July 10

I just can't even tell anymore what's art and what's a handjob with a veneer of respectability.

I guess I'm a bit confused. I take it I'm can either be aroused OR appreciate an image as art, but if one is true the other cannot be?

The breasts and nipples are indeed photo-worthy, but when one photo is a breast, and the next photo is a little girl in a park, chotto-squickishness.

I agree! If I see a breast and then immediately encounter a young child, my burning desire will transfer to the child without pause.
posted by maxwelton at 11:59 AM on July 10

NSFW should be changed to ARTFUL NIPPLES MAY GET YOU FIRED.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 12:19 PM on July 10

After reading some of the above comments, I was going to put in a reference to Steve Martin's "I get emotionally...erect" comment from "L.A. Story" (said while staring at a painting of a featureless red rectangle), but instead decided to simply "me too" my enjoyment for the photographer's aesthetic in, at the very least, the non-NSFW pictures. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to remember to start carrying around my own camera more often (it's my new toy, a D90 - eat your heart out, rmmclay! :) ).
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:15 PM on July 10

i have no idea why the Helsinki souvenir shops are full of the Hug salt and pepper shakers, the designer isn't even finnish (having interviewed at least one of the three before)
posted by infini at 12:49 PM on July 11

I guess I'm a bit confused. I take it I'm can either be aroused OR appreciate an image as art, but if one is true the other cannot be?

Nah, you can do both — that is, if you find you're able to then you're certainly allowed to.

I just find that I have trouble appreciating art nudes as art these days, in part because their visual language has been so extensively co-opted by shitty porn.

It's like how it was hard to listen to Under Pressure for a while because the bassline made you think of Ice Ice Baby, or how the bizzarro dream-world impact of some of Dali's best paintings is diluted by seeing them copied a bajillion times on posters and T-shirts and novelty watches.

So, yeah, MetArt and Petter Hegre and dreck like that are making it hard for me to appreciate, say, Mapplethorpe, and it kind of sucks. Like I said in the first comment, for those of you whose taste hasn't been coarsened, I bet the nudes in here pack a pretty solid artistic punch — closer to the Mapplethorpe end of the scale than the OMG-BOOBIES end — and I'm just cranky that I can't enjoy it because similar-looking work's been waved in my face too often in a too-spammy sort of way.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:31 AM on July 12

Meh, I think the problem I have with the nudity in this blog isn't that the nudity field has been crowded out by porn, it's that it's basically well-lit porn (NSFW).
posted by shakespeherian at 4:07 PM on July 12

Also, from a post titled 'Kyoko's first time':

Today Kyoko came over, she just turned 18 in April and it was her first time to show her body for the camera. She was sweet and shy but I helped to open her up. I will post more as I edit.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:15 PM on July 12

Those pepper shakers are all over Paris too. I picked up a knock off in Vernazza, Italy 2 years ago for 3 euro.
I have no idea how they became so ubiquous - I recall seing them as a fairly designer, new thing a few years ago on some blog.

I like a lot of the recent stuff, but in my opinion the NSFW stuff seems extraneous to the general portfolio - more of an attention grab thing.
posted by olya at 10:44 PM on July 12