Luise’s Tokyo portrait shoot was a little piggyback project during her mother-and-daughter session with Ruby. We were already exploring the city together, so the idea was to make room for a few solo portraits without interrupting the rhythm of their shoot. A little space for Luise, then naturally back to the two of them.
The booking itself came with an interesting question: how on earth did I get a Tokyo family portrait inquiry when I didn’t have a single family portrait entry in my portfolio? As it turns out, Luise had started by asking ChatGPT for a Tokyo family photographer and was shown the usual options, including established local studios that specialize in family sessions. But she was looking for something a little different: cinematic, with more of a street-photography feel. Once she refined what she wanted, ChatGPT pointed her in my direction. Apparently, it could see the connection even without a dedicated family portrait gallery. I’ll take that. Hehe.
Luise had done some modelling back home in Germany, which made her request even more interesting: she didn’t want the portraits to feel “modelly” at all. No need to switch into a different persona just because the camera was pointed at her. We kept things relaxed, letting her expressions and the surroundings do their thing while making the most of the little pauses in the mother-and-daughter session.
Most of these portraits were taken around Jimbocho Book Town, where Japanese paper-shop signs, tiled façades and glowing vending machines gave us plenty to work with. In Akihabara, the mood shifted between a quiet bridge and the lights of Electric Town. Different corners of Tokyo, but the same approach: Luise being herself, with the city adding its own texture around her.
Most of the set was photographed with the Leica Summilux-M 50mm on the SL3-S. The good ol’ nifty fifty can do just about everything I need for portraits: close enough for expression, wide enough to leave a little of the world in the frame. And in this case, enough to make a solo chapter feel like it belonged within a larger story with Ruby.
//
A cinematic Tokyo portrait shoot with Luise, photographed on location around Jimbocho Book Town and Akihabara during a mother-and-daughter session with Ruby. Captured by redsheepphotocinema using the Leica SL3-S and Leica Q3, with an available-light, street-photography approach shaped by Japanese signage, geometric architecture and the glow of Electric Town.