Marius Rittau Design, Photography, Film
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Japan

Everyday life in Japan, seen through one 28mm lens.

An elderly cook leans over a cluttered counter in a small kitchen.

Starting point

Japan had pulled me in for years, and I saved up for a long time to finally go, from Tokyo through Kyoto, Uji, Osaka, Okayama and Kojima to Hiroshima. I took my Leica Q2 because I wanted to bring back more than holiday snaps: the people, the culture, everyday life.

Idea & approach

There was no theme and no rules, just whatever caught my eye. I shot mostly during the day, partly because the Q2 is at its best in daylight, but mainly because daily life was what I wanted to capture.

Process

Most of the time I stayed invisible and let scenes unfold. Now and then I spoke to people directly. Everything was edited in Lightroom. What you see here is a selection, since some images stay private.

Result & learning

Above all, it was fun. But the trip also built my confidence with a camera in public. Next time, I want to shoot even more and approach people more actively.

More images

A woman in a white dress looks at her phone on an empty, tiled subway platform.
A man in a blue shirt stands in a symmetrical white-tiled station corridor.
A skater in a yellow shirt and red cap rides a bowl, seen through a chain-link fence.
Two parking officers in green uniforms check a car on a busy street.
A group of police officers stands outside a brick police box.
Two people walk down a long tiled underpass with a yellow guide line.
Pedestrians in motion blur cross a shopping street under green umbrellas.
A path through a tall bamboo forest with a few visitors in the distance.
A traffic guard in a high-visibility vest directs a taxi near a tower.
A worker in a green jacket walks along a street below wooded hills.
A passing train streaks across the frame at night.
Black and white: an older man in a hat reaches toward the camera by a river valley.
A person walks past a small open garage with a white van.