Young man sketching on the street in Shibuya

I’m in Shibuya when I see a young man sketching outside the 109 building. I ask if he is a fashion design student (they sometimes come to Shibuya for inspiration) but it turns out he is American and he’s in Tokyo for a manga convention. The convention is taking place over at Odaiba on the other side of the city. I ask if there will be people dressed up as anime and manga characters (Cosplay). He says yes, and I know exactly where I need to go next.

There's a strange symbiosis between the cosplay dresser and cosplay photographer.

I arrive in Odaiba and it’s all a little surreal. I don’t go into the exhibition hall, but wander around outside through a sea of fake eyelashes, colored contact lenses and little rolling suitcases. There are plenty of other people taking photographs but being a gaijin and holding a camera the size of Texas does mean you get eye contact.

Tokyo Cosplay

Tokyo Cosplay

Tokyo Cosplay

Cosplay in Tokyo

Digital Discovery #7

If you are not trying to do self portraits in the pupil of the model, best not to wear a bright yellow T-shirt.

Yellow t-shirt self portrait ( Pentax 645D crop)

Digital Discovery #8

The shutter sound of the 645D is not even close to that of the 67II. Similar to a police siren, the 67II has the ability to make people move out the way simply by the amount of noise it makes. Comparatively the 645D is like a ninja on thick carpet.