Tokyo Metal : Pulling Teeth And Friends

EARTH DOM is a small, airtight dark bunker in the dingy Korean area of Tokyo. It's here, and at numerous places like this you will see the best live performances on a any given day in the royal capital of Tokyo.
I have been following Pulling Teeth with a camera for a couple of years now and to the guys in and around the band as well as all the other DIY bands playing in the same league I owe a big thanx. I entered this scene as a complete outsider but have now after a couple of years got accepted and this has opened up doors to take more and better photographs of the people involved. It's a scene I love to be in and it's great to be able as a non band member to contribute with something that these people appreciate.

Tonights gig was shot entirely with Canons 15mm fullframe fisheye lens, f2.8. Had to be really close not to get too much stuff going on in the composition. The light was shifting constantly so the reading of both strobe ( -1/2 ) and camera (-1/3) had it's up's and downs but in general this wide angle view worked out better than I thought. The live venue was also really packed and the stage as usual, not bigger that an average phonebooth helped as well to get that "packed" mood as well as the comunication between the band and the moshing audience.

The New Work Flow

I never liked to sit in front of the computer, still I don't even if I actually do it for hours everyday. I have a very comfortable well organized small but effective office where I have all my camera/photo gear, my slide stock, my collection of photo books, scanner, printer, a very nice soft chair with wheels and arm rests to spend many long hours in and of course, my iMac G5 with 10GB of pure Heavymetal and Hardcore (plus some Wagner and Madonna). There is also a gas heater for cold winter days and a brand new airconditioner for hot summer nights, the coffee machine is just in the next room and there isn't really anything more to ask for exept this urge to actually be outside shooting. Since I have always respected and regarded the simple in life a priority I have for some time now been waiting for Adobe ( Abode with a twist...) to finally release the new software, i.e Lightroom. Well, to buy this was not as easy as you might think, seemed like the Japanese version which came out month behind the "world release" was only available in Japanese. I need to work in English so I ordered one on the internet. But there seemed to be some WTO conspiracy in the air cos this was not possible from either Adobes homepage or Amazon where I buy lots of stuff (mainly books).
Then I found a solution, there is a shop in N.Y.C called Adorama that worked pretty smooth when I ordered some 4GB FlashCards, and yes, I had the software in the computer a week after I sent them the order on the net. So what was this all about, why couldn't I get this very famous piece of Adobian engineering in a less timeconsuming and smooth way? Anyways, Lightroom, or LR as it's called officially might be the solution for m.w.c.p. If I can find the right workflow in RAW I can spend less time in my super nice and cozy office and more time carrying around tons of equipment in some 3rd world shit hole (to quote Trevor, a travelling Aussie I met on a bus out of Bangalore in India once) or on HardCore venues with stagediving misfits, just the way I like it.

Always The Hard Way...

No comment...

The Final Step

I asked a photographer friend to shoot my body suit for an upcoming article in a British magazine. Looked best in B/W.











































Thank you Saito Sensei ( http://mary-portfolio.mond.jp/ ), you did a nice job with that 5D.

Nippon "Live House" kulture

The Japanese "live" scene is cool. It's not a huge metal/hardcore scene here but it's never the less here and it's intense, very intense. The Japanese moshpits are fun, most of these light featherweights are doing their best to kick the shit out of eachother but always with a murky smile on their face. I have seen many times "westerners" trying to make themselves understood in the circle pit by doing what they do home in Bavaria or Kentucky or where ever they come from. The lokal kids just gets shit scared and will either try to fight the aggressor for real (!?) or just from a distance keep aways from that lonely frustrated white man, all pumped up, standing there alone in the pit looking just plain dumb. The thing with Tokyo is that most bands pass by here for a couple of gigs on whatever "world tour" they are on, and most of the times they play in really small venues, makes it easier as photographer to get close to both the bands and the kids but there are usually no place to shoot from except from in the middle of the pit or on stage, fine with me. Next month we have MADBALL, H2O, SICK OF IT ALL here in Tokyo (in one of the oldest and smallest venues there is, great...) and even metalcore gods LAMB OF GODS will play a gig or two (also in a tiny place).

Agnostic Front V.S Aggressive Dogs

Grand Fathers of New York Hard Core i.e AGNOSTIC FRONT versus the real Old timers of Japanese Hard Core i.e AGGRESSIVE DOGS. Man, was this a gig we all just had to go and see. I was as always jumping around with my gear in a tight grip both on stage and in the pit and I even managed to squeeze in a stage dive while a buddy held my camera. Had the day before made an interview/group shoot with the bands and they were all really cool people with no wierd attitudes what so ever,see, that's what I'm talking about. Hard Core people just don't have to play hard and be funny (funny!), it's all in the lifestyle and the lifestyle is real, as real as it comes. I Like to meet people from all walks of life but it's when you meet people like these guys that you can relax and let your guard down.

Technically, it was hard to find that flow in light settings between the on camera flash and the camera settings. I am used to shoot with 35mm slide film and you don't really have the same shit to struggle with on a film camera as you do on a digital. Just so much more light sensitive. Seems like all that crazy light at a gig just fucks some digital chip up and gives you often a very over exposed image. I was shooting the whole range of settings during the sets, M,P,Tv,Av, flash on auto and manual. Used a 22-70 f2.8 the whole evening and that lens is just great for this kind of work. And with the camera attached to a sidegrip you get that extra security in holding the stuff in the mosh pit and around the crowd. All in all, it worked out pretty nice in the end and from now on I have to use my 4GB cards instead of the usual 1GB, was running out of data space (man, what is this world coming to, can't belive I just wrote that...data space..if you didn't know I was sXe you would think I was stoned or something?)

Always the Hard Way, the H.C way!

Why Not....!

Just a couple of pics to liven up the blog a bit, too much fucking tattoos and choppers at the moment...

New Tool Vol.V

When I went on a road trip through the states of Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California last year and brought with me a FujiFilm GA645i (fixed 60mm, f4 Fujinon lens), a camera a friend lent me for the trip. It was more like a test for me to bring this extra piece of equipment including film, to see if this camera I have heard so many talk about was really up the the task of the way I shoot. To be honest, not much of a camera to shoot with, like a toy really. Close to sound free shooting and almost full automatic in most cases, but the quality of the images turned out way over my expectations, with sharp, clear reproductions of the moment with the color balance where it should be and a depth of field that came to be what I was looking for. It took me some time to decide what to go after (was looking at the 6x7 as well) and to chase down a high ranked one in one of Tokyos many superb seconhand camera stores. Secondhand in Japan means many times that the box the camera comes in has got a scratch on it or maybe the camera has been out of it's original box once and then being ranked "used" after that, a true paradise for us on a limited budget and also if you are after a model that isn't being produced anymore, like the GA645i. I know that this camera will be with me on most assignments from now on. Nice to slip back to the roots of photography for awhile as well, to get back some of the "feel" of shooting, i.e be able to trust your abilities without knowing right away what took place like you would on that LCD screen on your digital humdinger. Rise above!

Day Out...

A tattoo convention here in Japan is somewhat different from what people in Europe or the States might find the norm , it's many times just a phrase or slogan that is being used to get people buying tickets. A whole range of different cultures and styles always shows up and this is a great chance for any photographer to find interesting topics. I was shooting one event the otherday and there were many up-level tattooists there but also kickboxers, hairdressers (?), skateboarders, punks and B-boy Chicano wannabees (these guys are the best, very funny) all mixed up under one roof. An anthropologist should be there for some field studies. Fun in a way but also pretty sad to see the shallowness shining through the facade most of times. As a serious freelance photographer I get more and more un-inspired to do a god job at events like this and start shooting from the hip, which is a bad sign (for me anyway), that a lack of interest is lurking in the depts of the day.

Conspiracy Inc.

The worlds most famous Uncle Allan is in town for a guest work stint at INK RAT tattoo parlor here in Tokyo (www.inkrattattoo.com). I had an appointment for a piece on myself on Sunday (still some bare skin to work on, not much but still...) and on Monday, we got the interview on tape and a photography session on files for a coming issue of TattooBurst magazine. I always like to meet cool people and to have an opportunity to work with these kinds makes everyday so much better and interesting.

Check Uncle Allans web at - www.uncleallan.com and www.conspiracytattoo.com.

Uncle Allan will as well as many other cool people be attending the tattoo convention (Iron&Ink) held in June 8-10 onboard Queen Mary in Long Beach C.A. I will cover the event for various magazines so if you're there and wanna get your face in a tattoo mag or bike mag, this is the chance I guess. Petit gals with glasses are all-time favorites...

SlipKnot #0

So cool sometimes to have this job as a freelance photographer, especially here in Tokyo. You get to meet lots of cool people from time to time. You get to meet lots of not so cool people as well but hey, at least you are out there doing something that you by your self have chosen to do, shit, you even get paid to do it....most of the time anyway (up Market luxury car magazine LUX G ( bailed out on the payment for a 6 page fashion shot I did for them). Sneaky bastards these so called trend setters with their back stabbing everyday lifestyle! Thay know they are the loosers in the long run and that the "easy come , easy go" shit will come back to themselves in the end.

Anyways, here was a shoot I did just the other night of Sid A.K.A SlipKnot #0 when he came to town for a DJ sessio at club WOMB in Shibuya. He got some nice ink done from all over the place. Paul Booth, Filip Lou to name a few. Cool guy for sure.
Check July issue, VOL 38 of TATTOO BURST for this report.

Shad a.k.a Hori Tsuki Kage

Shad from Belgium (www.tattoobyshad.com) visiting Japan again and I had the pleasure to hook up with the man and shoot him working on another masterpiece, in this case a massive backpiece. I have known Shad for a couple of years now and got introduced to him by Carlos from TattooChurch here in Tokyo. All respect to both of these two great tattooists. The world of tattoos and tattooing has opened many new doors both for m.w.c.pand myself and has given the meaning of pure existence a true meaning. PMA all the way if you ask me, this is for life so you better be true to yourself and just have one thing in mind, that is to, Live To You Die.



























































It's by Carlos at TattooChurch I have got most of my suit done, but today we all switched places and I had the honor to get to know the sting of Shads hightuned two coiler better as I handed over my 5D (with an 17-35mm 2,8) to brother Carlos to record the event.



---Nothing Else Matters---

Out Of Step (With The World)

Click on the image for better fullsize view!


I hate to preach but whadafuck is going on here. The Kyoto Protocol went down the drain so Uncle Sam and his hitmen would have the oil monopoly a few more years is a fact most of us just have to live with till another more sane government take over and face the reality over there. But then as a bonus "Fuck You" to humanity we still have an industrialized commercial whaling industry feeding non except a small core of selfminded business people, making a huge profit of the worlds wild life. That the Japanese minions are easily fooled and blind folded isn't a surprise to anyone, (not an excuse). But that a freethinking advanced nation like Denmark even have the slightest idea to even think of supporting this slaughter of the few remaining whales in the word is more that bizarre. From an idea from GreenPeace, this came up:

MARCH 6, 12 NOON , DANISH EMBASSIES AROUND THE WORLD WILL RECEIVE A GIFT OF "CANNED WHALE MEAT". This is a small eyeopener for people with no insight of this alarming global problem. So I personally solemnly salute you, the Danish government with a magnificent, loud and clear FUCK YOU TOO in the name of common sense.

For more info, go to : www.greenpeace.org/international/

Here is my contribution, a small voice that can and will make a difference. Do Or Die !