Sometimes, living in the shadow of a big city (New York, in my case) makes you forget how rich a photographic playground an urban environment can be.
But Sydney-based photographer Tim Northey didn’t forget. In his latest video, he takes a walk around Tokyo, demonstrating how its rich tapestry of buildings, people, and, for some reason for Northey, crosswalks, make for a wide variety of photographic opportunities. Walking around with the brand new Canon R5 Mark II and a Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens (and only that lens), Northey talks about what makes the city, any city really, a good learning grounds for photographers.
A big thing suburban photographers like myself understand is that with the sun disappearing in the evenings, so do many photo opportunities. That’s not the case in cities, where sunset just opens up a new chance for photography. New York City’s most touristy areas, such as Times Square, for instance, become awash in neon lights and giant billboards, taking on a wholly different tone for a photograph than during the daylight hours. Cities are truly photographable at all hours of the day, Northey notes.
Puddles and buildings become opportunities to practice reflection photos, and a plethora of people provide plenty of chances for photographic subjects (if, like me, you’re not beyond stopping random strangers in the street to ask for a photo).
There’s definitely wisdom to this, and to that, I’ll add some more. The last truly unfamiliar city I visited was Hong Kong several years back. While New York City can often feel photographically tired for someone who has lived near it almost all their life, Hong Kong was the complete opposite feeling. Things that seemed like everyday scenes to the people living there were wonderful curiosities to me, warranting constantly lifting up my camera for a photo. Truly, if you’re looking to improve, visiting a completely foreign-to-you city and soaking in the scenes with a camera is a fantastic way to do it.
While I didn’t roll quite as heavy as Northey (the Olympus E-M10 II was my very small camera of choice), there’s something to be said for bringing a large-sensor camera along for the ride. Northey’s photos all have a sort of magical quality to them with his eye and his setup. You can check out those photos in the video above.
Do you have any tips for urban photography, or photos to share? Post them in the comments below!
