72Tokyo

The concept is simple: 72 hours in Tokyo, little sleep and lots of activity. In this project Tom Munro presents a series of photographs that are the result of serendipity and his schooled eye.

LFI: How did you choose what to photograph in Tokyo?
Tom Munro: I was in Tokyo for the first time. I took pictures of what I was attracted to. Everybody’s attracted to different things, so it’s extremely personal. The entire piece is about self-expression. About what I saw, what I felt, what I heard, what I smelled. An overload of the senses. It was a chaotic, frenetically fast-paced experience. I knew that I I had very limited time to be there.

In a city with such a rich culture like Tokyo, how did you avoid falling into clichés?
As a photographer one draws inspiration from many things, but one also
builds an image bank over the years which one almost subconsciously
draws from. I drew inspiration from the clichés. Especially in Tokyo where photography has played such an important part of its artistic depiction of the city and its culture.

How did you find your protagonist?
I met with Anna, a dancer, as a potential collaborator. Being an artist herself, Anna appreciated the creative process and understood it precisely. She put her trust in me, I put my trust in her and we went on an explorative journey together.

This is an excerpt from the interview with Tom Munro, which can be found in full in LFI 04/2018.