…Tokyo…passing an advertisement of Shohei Ohtani while on a speeding train approaching Shinjuku Station.
during March, i photographed a story about Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese superstar playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, titled “Ohtani-Land.” the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs opened the Major League Baseball season in Tokyo. instead of photographing the games or the crowds outside the Tokyo Dome, my assignment focused on Ohtani being seen on advertisements everywhere in the metropolis. images of Ohtani hovered above the crowds coming in and out of Shinjuku Station, the busiest train station in the world, like portraits of kings or dictators in their home countries. everywhere i went, he was looking at me, from sneaker advertisements in train stations to him being on the side of a vending machine near an ancient temple drinking green tea. i even saw an advertisement while i was two steps from the entrance of a public bathroom. he is easily the most recognizable Japanese person in the world.
this is one of my favorite photographs because it captures a moment in Tokyo that i’ve never been able to put on film. so much time in Tokyo is spent zig-zagging the metropolis on trains. there’s something about seeing the cityscape zoom by at night. it’s silent but noisy. calm but chaotic. gritty but pretty. dark but bright. all of the forces pulling in opposite ways make me feel comfortable even while i’m alone. i took this photograph about a minute out of the station. i was getting up from my seat and saw the neon sign of Ohtani rushing by. instinctually, i clicked the shutter without looking and walked towards the door.
in this format, where the photograph is the size of a stamp the image doesn’t translate well.