I was recently invited on a photowalk by my friends Keiko Mizuno and Tokyo Record Style regular, Tatsuo Fukutomi AKA bemsha. Keiko is an avid Lomo LC-A+ camera user, the camera that birthed the Lomographic Society, and she joined my PhotoPeace photo walk and gallery hop two summers ago. Coming back to Tokyo all the way from Gifu, she and bemsha organized this photo around the backstreets of Harajuku-Jingumae with visits to a couple of bookstores plus a coffee break at cool Watarium. Their photo walk was based on them “Tokimeki” which mean the the spark one feels in their heart, the tightening of excitement in the chest, the pulling of the heartstrings when we find in things, people, and moments, so attractive and perhaps even poetic that it squeezes us and ignites fireworks from within.
About 9 or 10 photohomies joined up for this stroll across hip, fun, and quirky Harajuku, catching up along the way, snapping at scenes that inspired feelings of “Tokimeki.” Not only did we encounter some kindred film lovers along the way and spot plenty of scenic and photogenic moments, but also I managed to delay the group slightly with an impromptu Tokyo Record Style shooting when I met DJ’s “Oobasalmon” and “Kaz USA” along the backstreets. They’d be DJing a popup event and dance battle later that afternoon in the urban-fashioned select-shop, Stadium Harajuku. In our short chat, I learned that Oobasalmon had once worked for legendary Japanese pressing plant, Toyokasei, and that Kaz USA is a well-established DJ and dance choreographer despite not even being (if I caught that right).
Thanks the smiles, Oobasalmon and Kaz USA, and for chatting me up. And thank you Keiko and bemsha for inviting me on the photowalk. For me, combining my passion for music and photography is my Tokimeki!
More Tokyo Record Style on the way!
Evidence – Weather Or Not
Label: Rhymesayers Entertainment – RSE250-1
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Blue
Country: US
Released: Jan 26, 2018
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Boom Bap
https://www.discogs.com/release/11470734-Evidence-Weather-Or-Not
Real Live – The Turnaround: The Long Awaited Drama
Label: Atlantic – 92668-1, Big Beat – 92668-1, Pirate Recordings – 92668-1
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1996
Genre: Hip Hop
https://www.discogs.com/release/268475-Real-Live-The-Turnaround-The-Long-Awaited-Drama
Common – Like Water For Chocolate
Label: MCA Records – 088 111 970-1
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 2000
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Conscious
https://www.discogs.com/release/187055-Common-Like-Water-For-Chocolate
Wu-Tang X Remedy – Remedy Meets Wu-Tang
Label: RemedyRoss Music – none
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Stereo, Green, Alternate Cover
Country: US
Released: 2022
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Conscious, Thug Rap
https://www.discogs.com/release/24138884-Wu-Tang-X-Remedy-Remedy-Meets-Wu-Tang
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