Do you find your photographic eye falling asleep trudging the same old path? Sevin Pakbaz reignites her visual sensibility touring Japan. A whole new world. Every corner inspiring. Funny how setting foot abroad can be a fistful of No-Doz for a photographer. If you needed an excuse to book those flights, here it is.
Photos: Sevin Pakbaz // @seviiiiinnnn.
The culture, the fashion, the food, the art. Instantly recognisable and endlessly photogenic. Wide-eyed and stocked with Kodak Portra 400, Sevin documents her newfound fascination with urban mark-making. Layers on layers of graffiti and sticker bombs fighting for attention, and rightfully getting it.
Japan is a playground. A whole new world, with its own flavour - and having never set foot there before, every corner felt inspiring. What struck me most was how intact Japan’s identity is - the culture, the fashion, the food, the art. Not watered down for anyone passing through.
I wanted to chase that feeling of awe with a camera in hand. I shot Osaka and Tokyo during the day on my Canon EOS5, with my favourite film stock, Portra 400. I kept my nimble Olympus mju II in my pocket for the smaller, candid moments.
During the day, it was the quieter corners that pulled me in - the back alleys and side streets, tucked just out of view from the main strip. Vending machines wrapped in stickers, walls tagged with graffiti. Small acts of rebellion against the polish. It felt like finding the grit beneath the cleanliness - proof that there's still a pulse of chaos running through the tame streets. I love to see that contrast. I found myself stopping strangers in shops and on street corners to take their portrait. There was a coolness to them I wanted to capture.
Then came Shibuya at night. I loaded a roll of CineStill 800T and watched the city come alive. It was 9pm on a Saturday, the exact hour the city tips over into its second life. Neon lights, ramen shops, businessmen hanging outside bars.
Every frame from that night feels like it's still moving - the density of people, the momentum of the city. These photos aren't just what Shibuya looked like. They're what it felt like to stand in the middle of it that night.
View more Hung Supply Photo Diaries, here.
