
The Tokyo Forgeries Blog
Scroll Search or Click

The Fallacy of Focal Length in Street Photography
The conversation frequently revolves around which lens is best suited for street photography. While focal length undeniably influences composition and perspective, overemphasizing it can lead us astray, creating a fallacy that can hinder our creative expression.

2025 Content Strategy: Or How I Learned to Trust Myself
In preparing for (setting)my 2025 goals I came to the realization that my approach for writing and sharing my work should mirror the way I create my images. I feel it, then I set to make it. I dont oftetn follow a set plan, finding mediocre results when I do. MY whole cratinve self is wrapped in pre-visualization. Sometimes it comes well in advance, and some days it happens in the moment: this is happening here, this light, that contrast, this background, i want this, yes, this , wait, wait, click. That is my thought process in the simplest form when taking a picture. Things are happening and I see this as the best final result. With decades of practice there is no internal dialouge, just the final image in mind.

2025: Year of the Street Photography Book
It has been a goal of mine to write my own Tokyo street photography book. The task was more difficult than I had initially thought. The problem was that a different idea came out each time I sat down to write. By the end of the week of writing, several concepts were born. A brief for each and a link to a dedicated page for each are available below. It will take most of 2025 to produce these works. Likely encompassing the bulk of my creative output this year. I look forward to the challenge of creating multiple projects simultaneously and to the experiences derived from such a venture.

Returning to the Scene: Roppongi MidTown
Revisiting a location can yield impressive outcomes, exemplified by this image of a woman hurrying past an LED billboard in Tokyo Midtown.

Good Luck at Shinjuku Station
I was lucky to witness this crazy stunt just outside Shinjuku Station South East gate. Although I had my camera ready in time, I was not good enough to capture the moment I saw in my mind—almost, but not quite.
In making your own luck, life experience goes a long way to getting the most out of it.

Happy Accidents in Street Photography
The Happy Accident is a merger of previsualization and happenstance. It was taken at JR Akabane station, Tokyo.
Tokyo’s frenetic pace leads to a number of both moments, often simultaneously. A happy accident occurs when these moments collide.

Reflections in Color
Kawaguchi city has a number of large nostalgic-looking phone booths. The glass booths allow me to shoot through as well as what’s reflected in it. Combing the two realities in one image can be difficult. A great deal of patience is required.

A Digital Contact Sheet?
The contact sheet allows me to see the day’s images objectively, free of the emotion tied to the experience of taking them. Furthermore, it helps to visualize trains of thought, images to be culled, mistakes made, and how to fix them.