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    Photographer Chronicles Day-to-Day Life in Tokyo

    From stunning portraits to cultural scenes that may not be around for much longer, Lee Chapman is passionate about documenting life in Tokyo.
    by Nevin Thompson May 06, 2017 1 minute
    Lee Chapman Photo

    Fish market worker, Tokyo, Japan (uncaptioned photo). Photo by Lee Chapman / Tokyo Times. Used with permission.

    Lee Chapman is a street photographer who prolifically documents life in Tokyo. While Chapman, a professional photographer who shoots for the Guardian, the Economist, the Daily Mail and other publications, maintains a portfolio, his blog Tokyo Times is updated three times a week.

    Chapman has lived in Japan since 1998. He originally intended to stay for a year or two, but now he says Japan is his home. According to a recent interview available online, Chapman says using a Leica M8 Rangefinder — the relatively small camera allows him to approach his subjects — has influenced his work.

    While Chapman documents life in and around Tokyo, recent blog posts have also captures haikyo, a genre of photography that documents the slow decline of abandoned buildings in Japan and elsewhere.

    There is something for almost every interest on Chapman's blog, include more formal portraits:

    At its best, Chapman's blog captures scenes of everyday life in Japan, some of which may not be around for much longer:

    Since Chapman is so prolific, it can be challenging to figure out how to start exploring his images. Luckily, Chapman has listed his “favourite images of 2016“, which provide a good introduction to his street photography.

    If you're interested in some of the more technical details of how Chapman approaches photography, there is an excellent interview with yet another Japan-based photographer, nature and wildlife photographer Martin Bailey.

    Besides Chapman's blog and portfolio, his photographs can be found on his Tokyo Times Instagram and Twitter accounts.

    Originally published in Global Voices.

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