Our man in Tokyo

What is this blog all about?

Originally intended as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family in Australia, ourmanintokyo.net has evolved into more of a photoblog. The site features stories and photos of life in Japan, photography-related discussions as well as the occasional rant. I'm also keen to introduce the work of photographers whose images I like. In the coming months I plan do write more of these pieces as well as link to online portfolios.

A little about me: I'm a 32 year-old Australian who has been living in Tokyo for the past 5 years. Aside from photography, I'm also interested in music, literature, history, politics, media, linguistics and pretty much anything else that falls under the (admittedly wide) banner of cultural studies.

Does anyone actually read this stuff?

Apparently so. Seems there's a few of you who keep coming back for more. Thanks for your support!

Can I link to photos on the site?

Well... it depends. Recently I've been having a lot of problems with people linking to my photos without permission. This is not OK. Ask, and its more than likely that you will receive, unless of course you want to add random images to a badly designed MySpace page, in which case you will be summarily rejected on aesthetic grounds. It isn't difficult - a comment and an email address under the photo you wish to link to should suffice.

Whats that Twitter thing on the sidebar?

Twitter is a form of micro-blogging. At first I was skeptical as to whether Twitter was worth the time, but I'm now convinced that it's one of the most useful 'Web 2.0' applications around. Sure there are other, similar applications (jaiku, pownce) but Twitter remains the most popular.

It's particularly useful when you want to keep in touch with a small group of friends/colleagues. Most of my 'followers' (makes me sound like some kind of cult-leader) are photographers or friends geeky enough to twitter from their phones during their lunch-breaks. If you feel you belong in either of those categories, then feel free to add me to your own twitter list.

Can you translate some Japanese for me?

No, you're better off trying Babelfish.

I'm interested in buying prints of photos on this site. Are they for sale?

But of course! Please contact me by leaving a message in the comments and I will get back to you with full pricing information.

Do you have an online portfolio?

Its on its way. I hope to have my new portfolio site up and running in the next 2-3 months. Once its finished, it will offer a large selection of my best photography together with descriptions of the photos, availability and pricing information.

Would you give me feedback about my photography?

I'm a real believer in giving comments on other people's images. I discovered a huge amount by commenting on sites such as flickr and Tips From the Top Floor. While I enjoy discussing other people's photography, this can be pretty time-consuming. For faster replies, I suggest submitting your photos to a forum like TFTTF