Street Photography in Chinatown and Little Tokyo
As I said last week, I really wanted to try something other than photography at the beach to really explore more. This week, I decided I wanted to do more street photography in the city. I really hate LA traffic, but luckily, there wasn’t too much traffic on Friday and Saturday! I was quite lucky. That or I found the perfect times to go to LA.
先週に「ビーチじゃないところに行きたい」って言ったよね。だから、今週はChinatownとLittle Tokyoに行くことにした。ロスの渋滞は大嫌いなんだけど、意外にも、仕事の後の金曜日と土曜日はそんなに渋滞がなかった。ラッキかロスに行く完璧な時間が見つかった。
On Friday, I wanted to do some night photography in Chinatown. I really didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t been to Chinatown in a while. I got there at around 6 or so and decided to just explore. I unknowingly parked near the train station. To my surprise, the area was pretty empty despite being a Friday night. The emptiness really gave an eery vibe to the area, especially at night. The area also was pretty safe surprisingly at night. I didn’t feel threatened at all in the main areas. I didn’t go further down the road as I didn’t really see anything of interest, but I’ll have to do more research of those areas for next time! On my way back, there were beautiful apartments that were lit up by Chinese red lanterns and I got quite a few shots I liked there. I love the feel and Chinese feel I got around there. I really wished there were more Chinese lanterns around Chinatown.
金曜日には、Chinatownで夜に写真を撮りたかった。実は、Chinatownに久しぶりに行ったから、あんまりそのところのことをあんまり知らなかった。6時くらいに着いた。偶然、駅の近くに駐車したから、Chinatownを周りやすかった。意外なことに、Chinatownは金曜日と言っても、そんなに混んでなかった。「無」って感じ。それと私の思ってたことと違ってそんなに危なくなかった。今回は、そんなに歩けなかったから、全部のChinatownを見れなかったけど、次は、もっと見たいよ！夜になったら、提灯は赤く明るくなってすごく綺麗だよ。「わああ」ってなってめっちゃ写真を撮った。そのエリアはすごく見てほしい。本当に中国って感じでもっとChinatownに提灯があればよかったな〜って思った。
On Saturday, I went to Little Tokyo with a friend and shot pictures together! I wanted to get some evening and night pictures around the area so we got there at around 5. The place had a totally different atmosphere than Chinatown. The place was bustling with crowds here and there. Everyone had masks so it felt pretty safe. We walked around the area and eventually to Grand Park and back to Little Tokyo for dinner. We wanted to eat at a restaurant called “Chinchikurin”, but the place had a 45 minute wait list so we said screw it and went to a nearby Ramen place called “Ramen Maruya”. The place was alright, nothing special. My friend had Katsudon and Sushi Rolls while I had Tsukemen. It was a summer night so of course I had to get some Ramune! All in all, it was a great and fun walk around Little Tokyo.
土曜日は友達とLittle Tokyoに行ったんだ。もっと夜の写真を撮りたかったから、5時くらいに着いた。Chinatownと違ってLittle Tokyoはめっちゃ混んでたよ！ほとんどみんながマスクをつけてたから、大丈夫だったよ。たくさんの写真を撮ってから、ばんごはんを食べることにした。ちんちくりんっていうレストランで食べたかったけど、予想待ちの時間は約45分だったから、Ramen Maruyaっていうレストランにした。Ramen Maruyaはまあまあだった。すごく高かったんだけど。。。友達はカツ丼と巻き寿司を食べて私はつけ麺を食べた。それに、夏の夜だから、ラムネを飲まなきゃな〜と思った。結局は、すごく楽しかった！
Street Photography is such a great genre to do. It’s so unpredictable and with every area, you get all sorts of surprises. It’s very quick paced compared to when I go to the beach and do photography. I’ll always love doing the street type of photography I do at the beach, but to go into the city and get pictures there, it’s just a rush of energy and constant moving which is what made me fall in love with photography in the first place when I first started getting into it when I lived in Japan. I can’t wait for the opportunities that lie ahead and of course eventually in the future when things get safer!
ストリートフォトはめちゃ楽しいジャンルだよ。一瞬で何もかも変わるジャンル。ビーチと違ってすごく早い。もちろん、ビーチで写真を撮るのが好きなんだけど、ストリートフォトは変わるのがすごく早くてめちゃくちゃ楽しい。それはフォトグラフィーが好きな瞬間を思い出した。日本で街を歩いて写真を撮る。その思い出を思い出した。旅行して新しい街で写真を撮るのをめちゃ楽しみにしてる！