Stay Sharp

Monday, September 29, 2008

HORIMATSU a.k.a Matti Sedholm








Swedish tattooer/photographer Matti Sedholm was visiting town and I had the pleasure to hang with him for two days in Tokyo. He came to town to do an article about -mwcp- for the leading photography magazine over there (Kamera&Bild) so there were plenty of deep camera talk and other stuff all revolving around photography (and tattooing). I showed Matti to my favorite spots in Tokyo and since it was quite some time since I went to Meiji temple I saw the beauty in the place again and managed to get some shots worth showing you all. Lycka till med allt Matti, vi ses kanske nan dag, vem vet!

KALAVINKA




I am working on an article for a European cycling magazine at the moment and had the pleasure to meet Mr. Tanabe today. He has been building the by now legendary KALAVINKA bikes for the Keirin scene for over 30 years. A really nice and friendly man and I was welcomed in his small and well stocked workshop. Today was a good day, having a chance to meet people like Mr. Tanabe is making all the dragging of heavy camera gear worth it all. I will post some more from this article when it's all done and in print.







Sunday, September 28, 2008

SPEEED NIGHT Vol.11











Went to see Ikeda san from REW10WORKS in his workshop. Then a speeed ride through Tokyos amazing night streets. It's possible to keep a high speed on most streets since Saturday night has mainly taxis and they know by now not to fuck with us. Just another short stop with the G9 in Ueno park, have stopped shooting during the rides since it just takes the pleasure away from the actual riding and keeps the risk factor on an unnecessary high level. Sometimes it's just better to focus on one thing real tight and let the photographic memory stay in your mind instead of on a memory card. Like when you go to eat at really nice restaurant where you love the food, you don't want to spoil the moment by start shooting the food infront of you, do you? Well, I don't. I eat it, two completely different things to me. Why do you want to see the food you just enjoyed so much on your blog or on a print afterwards? Keep it inside and let the moment rule, the mental image will never be close to the image your camera captures anyways. If you can't live in the "now" and enjoy it, you have a problem that your camera can't help you with, you have to deal with your own shit, learn, and let the experiences from that show in your photography...but what do I know!!

Ride Hard




Thanx Ikeda san for showing us your workshop again. We love your work man!!! Check his work ---HERE---

FRANKLINS

RxKxBx brothers Goto (Bass/vocal) played last night in Shinjuku with his band FRANKLINS. That man is a great musician...


Monday, September 22, 2008

A dogs life...



This guy lives in a backpack...

Friday, September 19, 2008

30.000...


30.000 viewers today, Thanx for watching people.

4649

Saturday, September 13, 2008

REW10WORKS - Framebuilder








Went over with some of the guys to say hello to Ikeda san from REW10WORKS. He is an fantastic framebuilder with really unique ways of getting really great stuff together. He isn't afraid to challenge the mainstream with this.
Really nice to see someone doing his own thing without caring what the minions have heard is better and more "in". I respect a guy like Ikeda for this and I wish we will have lots of good creative stuff coming out of this friendship.




Friday, September 12, 2008

PULLING TEETH @ Shinjuku Loft








I have been shooting Pulling Teeth for about 5 years now. Their music still kicks hard and I know that I will continue to go to the shows for many years to come, music is what drives me many times and without it my photography wouldn't really have a strong foundation. But never the less, things move on and I feel that the P.T chapter in my photography must come to another phase pretty soon. It's time to do something with all the thousands of really cool photos of this trio and the bands around them.
For me this is delicate stuff, but I had the feeling that after shooting these portraits, the route that led me to finally sit down with the guys and shoot these after the show gave way to a finale, a proper end became possible.










PULLING TEETH will live forever, long live PULLING TEETH...


Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Natural light...





I like to shoot portraits in natural widow light. To work with what's available isn't always as easy as it looks, but it will give a more honest feel to the various color tones as well as the fact that you can shoot more spontaneously.

Face, Bikes & stuff @ Bicycle Film Festival Tokyo -08

Go Filipe. Cyclists in Tokyo hasn't caught up with the rest of the world on hitching a ride of a fast moving vehicle yet. I've only seen the RxKxBx's practicing this superb mode of commuting over here so far!


Kaneko kun from DEPTdoing his thing on the tall bike







Freeee'ks from the Ghetto gutter, the best dudes of them all!







Sexy Sushi, great Tokyo based photographer










Who's a RxKxBx in this picture?






Who's the champion of the world in this?





Who's the midget in this one?
















Ikeda san, a local Tokyo bike builder. The name of his workshop is REW10WORKS and he built a really cool Tall Bike for us. Probably the first one in Tokyo!!














Snickers & Beer.....




...and you end up like Eli in Turbo mode. Check his BLOG, it's really cool!














STARFUCKERS have done it again!! Their new creature is one of a kind and will blow the world away when it comes out on the market in a coupel of months. CEO Shinya with his new bike....I love it!
























BFF Tokyo producer Satoshi is the one we all should thank for putting up such a cool event this year again. I know how much work he puts into this and without dedicated people like Satoshi and his team we would be one Bike film festival less.