People

Its This Big!

Shibuya Crossing - one of the busiest crossings in the world in Tokyo, Japan. There is a great viewpoint that has opened recently from which you can see the whole crossing perfectly. Fun-fact - I crossed this junction around 80 times over the course of 2 days. Night pictures, people photography, videography, you name it - the junction is perfect for it! This shot here was staged with a friend of mine that stopped dead in the middle of the road. People weren't too happy, but it made for a great photo. Phillip

One View

This is one of my besties (do we still use this word?) - during the quarantine we did some fun photo sessions to update documents and the socials; I mean, what else is there to do??

Brooklyns Gate

Here is another one from the Brooklyn Bridge - I got relatively lucky as there were not that many people around! The ropes are perfect to use a wide angle lens, so dont forget yours when you head over! -Phillip

Can I Interest You In Some Cloth

While shipping across the Nile in Egypt, little boats would pull up alongside our boat. Note, that our boat was around 8 meters high - those boats ... were not. So they would pull up, pull out anything from headscarves to carpets, ask (screamingly) if anyone is interested - and if they even slightly assume that you or anyone else that's looking is interested, they'd pack the object in a plastic bag, seal it, and literally throw it up onto the deck of our boat. You are then expected to remove the item from the bag, place the money in the bag, and throw the bag back down. Some of the people we traveled with didn't have any interest - but found a bag at their feet either way. They felt guilty that the guy went through all the trouble and bought some scarves - at least you will always remember where you bought them! Also, props to the aiming skills! Phill

Gift A Smile

Sometimes it's just nice to gift a smile! This is my friend Ina during a walk through the park - I don't remember which lockdown - and we stopped to take some pictures at this pillar construction that you can see in the back. Nothing more to it! Keep smiling people!

A Night Sale in Tokyo

This is one of the most famous areas in Tokyo, Japan - Shinjuku. I love all the lights combined with a light rain during that evening - makes for the greatest city shots. See the karaoke bar in the background? After finishing my photo session, I met my friend there and we sang until 4 AM. -Phillip

Running Ahead in Tokyo

Shibuya crossing in Tokyo is one of the busiest crossings world-wide. This makes it a blast for photography though! There is so much going on left and right with the masses crossing, it is super exciting! Taking some rain and a bazillion umbrellas in addition to that, and you have an evening well spent. Our running friend here was actually waiting for the green light, but just started to print like mad right away. -Phillip

A Man And A Temple

The title doesn't mean anything really - I took a bazillion photos of all sorts of people during my time in Japan. This one is from Kyoto - I cant even remember the exact temple where I took this, there are so many! The temples and shires are a great place for people photography though. You see families that are stressed, families that are happy, people in pain from too much weight on their back, retired people, lonly globetrotters, lost people, people complaining, fighting couples, overly happy couples, and everything far and few in between. Besides, in Japan people simply do not get upset for having someone taking a photo of them. I often ask, but when the opportunity strikes.. Phillip

A Stretch at Night in Tokyo

This is one of the many little streets in Tokyo - at night, many of them become abandoned and only have the occasional person walk through. The lady on the right just walked out of the house and started stretching on the street! Maybe she doesnt have enough room in her house - who knows, but I loved the whole scene. -Phill

Standing in Light in Tokyo

This is a museum in Tokyo that has opened up some years ago, called the Borderless Museum. The principle is awesome: You walk through a dark curtain without seeing any map or getting any information, other than that the artwork is alive. Ok. Once you take the step, you will find that the museum consists of several rooms that have very different lightshows. This one here for instance is a light labyrinth, so once you walk in, it is difficult to navigate and to see where is up and down. The light strings change colour and the light moves downwards in different speeds - really quite the trip. This is only one of several rooms - it takes about 4 hours to complete the whole thing. The crux? The artwork IS indeed alive. Ill give you more details in the next post :) Phill

The Professional Photographer

So this was actually a little funny - I spent some time at Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, when it started to rain badly. Now, the couple that you see in the image had booked a professional photographer for the evening that came prepared - he pulled out a couple of umbrellas right away and every time the light would turn green, all of them would run to the centre of the road. The couple then quickly changed into a hugging/kissing position and the photographer took about 4000 pictures. They repeated this for about 30 min, going back and forth. I was running around, too, but in the end decided to take a quick shot as well. On the left, you can actually see the arm of the photographer - as he completes the story of my image, I have decided not to crop him out or photoshop him away. Thanks to the couple and the photographer for the nice scene! -Phill

Waiting for the Rain

While exploring Tokyo, I found several nice viewpoints that made for a fantastic photo. By the time I found this one, clouds had come in - which made for this awesome dramatic backdrop. I am not sure what our friend here was waiting for, but I thank him for standing there in the right moment. -Phill

Spotted in Tokyo

There isn't really much to say about this one - I was just waiting at the traffic light and saw this absolutely fantastic lady. Everything was just right, her expression, the contrast of her clothes to the wall, the pedestrian crossing, the odd movement she is doing with her hand... Brilliant! I took the picture while she was staring at me - she nodded, the light went green, and she went on. -Phill

Small Door, Big Room

A thing I really love about Japan is the way that you find restaurants. Take this door for instance. Looks like a tiny door leading to either nowhere or a tiny space. However, I learned that these seemingly tiny places can be humongous once you go in and downstairs. I find this interesting - you dont see what you get into before you actually walk downstairs. In good old western tradition, I was searching for restaurants where I can see what going on, check the ambience, if it looks cozy... well, not in JP! -Phill

A Thank You With A Smile

When I was in Japan, there was a whole village that had the sole purpose of showing tourists what Japan 'looked like' many hundreds of years ago. And how could it be any different, they sold chicken sticks there - which were actually super tasty! To the point, the shop was run by a sweet elderly couple - this is the wife that seemed to have a perma smile. I also got the husband, but he is in a different picture.

The Perfect Guide

This is Josef. During our Egypt trip, he was one of our guides - and I can easily say he's one of the best guides that I've ever met in my life. You may ask yourself: well, cool that he's a guide and all, but why is he special? I'll tell you. I'm sure you've met people in your life whose profession it was to explain something to you. May it be in school, at a course, at a fair, whatever. If you think back, which are the ones you remember? Granted, it's either those that are really terrible, those that make silly jokes - or the ones that have the most amazing passion for what they're doing. Josef guides us through Aswan, Luxor, Edfu, Nubian villages and other awesomely interesting places - and whenever he would explain something, he'd do it with such a passion that you would start to get excited over a pile of rubble or an empty lot where something once could have been. He also mastered the art of dramatic pauses (kudos) and filled those with the smile that you see in the picture. One more note - when you walk through the desert, you get thirsty. Strange, right? So by the time it was 1 PM, I already had breakfast twice and like 3 liters of water. However, it was Ramadan, so Josef and most other people in Egypt did not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. That means, he, just like us, would wake up at ungodly hours like 4 AM, travel all day, walk through the desert at 40 degrees Celcius, speak all the time, and not once complain or take any sustenance. It's funny, cause other tourists were complaining if the dinner was 5 min delayed or if the breakfast the hotel prepared to take away wasn't sufficient enough in their eyes. Cheers to the man who is awesome at what he does - and for the reminder that doing anything with passion can leave a lasting impression on the people you meet. Thanks, Josef! Phill

Ready Anytime

Some people just have that gift ... we walked through a riverbed and hiked through the mountains, but my friend Marco here can lose all exhaustion within seconds and is ready to pose for pictures anytime. Phill

A Walk On The High Line

This is another image of the awesome High Line Park in New York - some years ago this was a place for trains to transport goods, now it is a very pleasant pathway for citizens and tourists alike. If you go there around new years, the park ends just at the water and offers a great place to take pictures of the sunset with the skyline. Worth! -Phillip

Best Chicken Stick!

In another picture I talked about a lovely couple that sold chicken sticks in an ancient-style village in Japan - that's the husband! I mean, he practices every day so he perfected the craft, but they were indeed amazing!

Romes Street Music

This gentleman here sat on the sidewalk in Rome, playing what I think is an Erhu. The instrument is absolutely amazing and in my mind can carry even more emotion than a violin. Granted, it was a little odd to walk through Rome and hear Chinese music while looking at ruins and such, but ... when in Rome ... Phill

Coffee Wait

These are my friends Marco and Nina - we traveled together between the lockdowns in Italy and Ireland. We did fun things together such as queuing 30 min for a sandwich that is famous, another 30 or so for a famous Italian restaurant... essentially we queued a lot. In this particular shot, I believe, we are in between queues. Phill

A Bear in Porto

Porto is a great place to walk through and find yourself in one tiny street after another - but it is also great to visit the rather touristic areas! This fella here tried to get some attention from anyone passing by, and truth be told, he was amazing! Why was he wearing the costume? Better not to ask, some things should stay secret. -Phillip

Portos Rainy Nights

It is always the same. I arrive somewhere and find a place for the sunset - and suddenly clouds materialize above the scene and it rains. In Porto, this was a little extreme as we had rain every single night for about 8 days. This picture was taken on the way home after a failed attempt to wait for the sunset... -Phillip

Sasha at Sunset

When drinking somewhere turns out to be one of the greatest sunsets of all time!