Ginza in the rain

Amazing Tokyo imagery by photographer Thomas Birke:

Detail from Ginza Neon Night Rain (2008) by Thomas Birke on Flickr

In his introduction to the set, Birke writes that he shoots Tokyo because it shows us the future in the present. In his notes throughout the set he points to the expressways that thread their way between buildings as high as ten floors up. The scale of this has an arresting effect. I visited Tokyo briefly in 1997, and it was this exact observation that took my breath away—the vertical scale invokes a sense of “swim,” like you’ve been displaced to a future that’s physically larger and denser than your senses are used to.

Via Dan Benjamin.

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