After returning to live in Tokyo 2012, photographer Philipp Zechner notice a shift in the behaviour and attitudes of the people there. Gone was the optimism that had long ruled the country, replaced by fear and uncertainty for the future, and Philipp decided to document what he saw in a project titled Tokyo Radiant. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that shook Japan in 2011, which destroyed many towns in the coastal regions of the north east, eventually leading to the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
With the project now complete, Philipp spoke with DIYP to tell us more about Tokyo Radiant, what it means to him, and the equipment with which he shot it.
When given the chance to work there in 2012, I did not hesitate to pack my suitcases and move back there. I had experienced larger earthquakes before, like the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake in Niigata, and had always admired the Japanese attitude towards disasters (pretty scary for me as a person from a country without floods, earthquakes, and thunderstorms).
Philipp told us about his goals with this project and what he was trying to achieve with it.
We asked Philipp if it was a difficult transition to make, moving back to Japan after such a major event.
Shooting the entire project on infrared was an interesting choice. Philipp told us a little more about this, the technique and the equipment he used.
Much like black & white, I find that framing through the optical viewfinder works best. Liveview is a nice feature, but I believe that the image needs to be inside one’s head before all. It takes some time to learn “seeing” in black & white or IR, but at least in my case, taking the abbreviation of composing in liveview would not have worked because I feel one needs to understand his medium in order to get the most out of it. Philipp also provided some insight into his post work on the images after he shoots them.
I start with a PS action that I wrote (there are lots of them on the web, nothing special). Afterwards, I usually tweak exposure/curves, sometimes I touch colors, but the basic match is between motive and general style. We asked Philipp if there was a future for this project, if more images would be created for it, and whether it would be exhibited. We would like to thank Philipp for taking the time to share his story and work with us. I am in contact with galleries and NGOs. Japanese NGOs still do a great job, and I have linked some of them on my homepage, but there is a general tendency towards pushing this topic away as many people feel it puts their country in a bad light, which I find regrettable. Tokyo Radiant is being turned into a book, funded through an Indiegogo campaign where you can preorder the upcoming book, and purchase Philipp’s previous book “Tokio im Licht der Nacht” (“Tokyo in the Light of the Night”) created in 2008. You can see the complete project on the Tokyo Radiant website, and you can find out more about Philipp on his website. Images used with permission.
