TOKYO UNSEEN
Please click on the image to purchase the book
I have been following Lukasz's work for many years, and I am thrilled that his new book has been published. It is an essential testament to his dedication and passion for the city he calls home: Tokyo. This book is a valuable addition to the one we have previously published: Vaporized Memories.
The quote "City Life is a glimpse into what one might experience had one been living in this place, whereas Street is a glimpse into the existence of a moment that no longer exists" by Lukasz Palka resonates with me. Upon analyzing his shots, I noticed that even when they are seemingly "street", he is able to capture a feeling and make it eternal, like a painting by Hopper. Unlike freezing a moment, he grabs a feeling, which is quite remarkable.
Palka's perspective of the city is influenced by its artistic traditions. The introduction of the book highlights the city's fame for the cyberpunk aesthetic, which I completely agree with. In an old interview with Palka, he mentioned that he finds the night in Tokyo extremely captivating. From a technical standpoint, the light is easy to work with, with lots of bright white lights and some colored lighting for added hues. Additionally, many people are out and about in the busy areas, which means that many stories are unfolding and ready to be photographed. Palka is largely inspired by the cyberpunk genre, where stories seem to take place in perpetual night cities, such as in films like Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell, books like Neuromancer, or games like Deus Ex. Tokyo being the inspiration for these cyberpunk stories, it goes full circle, and so Palka prefers to shoot at night. Besides, he is not a morning person.
At first, he found crowds to be bothersome because he wanted to capture isolated subjects in his photos. However, in Tokyo, where crowds are ever-present, he had to learn to work around them and find another way to isolate his subjects. He realized that the group itself could become a space in which the subject could be separated. To capture the perfect shot, he would often pre-focus on a certain distance, crouch down, and peer through the viewfinder, waiting for the right moment. Sometimes, he would take a few frames in succession, as if he were a wildlife photographer waiting for the perfect shot. Another technique he used was to pre-focus and then shoot from the hip.
When I saw his self-portrait for the first time, it reminded me of Leiter, and I believe that Palka, as Leiter, seeks beauty in the world around him. Unlike Hopper, he doesn't depict an unhappy world, but rather one where every individual is actively playing their role and not alienated. It's like a "positive hyperrealism". He has a strong inclination towards color in his photographs. He believes it is a reflection of how he perceives the world around him. He strives to capture the essence of the scene in the most realistic way possible, depicting it exactly as he remembers it. This could be considered subjective, but his aim is to create an objective reality in his photographs.
“I don't think I consciously perceive the emotions that colors bring out in my photos. I do however pay close attention to the harmony of colors. I love to get nice contrast, such as blue and yellow, or red and black. The prevalence of blue, especially in my older photos, is due to creative white balance. I had a penchant for selecting the 'wrong' white balance in order to get an effect. Recently, however, I always process my photos for a natural look: I strive to recreate reality. In short, I use color to contrast subjectsand environments, to the draw the eye to a certain object, or to evooke a general mood. I seldom think of the emotions of the colors though I'm sure there is some subconscious process at play.”