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I couldn't stop time for Nakagin Capsule Tower
I’ve heard some photographers say photography can stop time. Everything freezes when you hit that shutter button. Do you believe that?
It can’t. No way. Nothing controls time, least of all a camera. Yes, I know these people are simply misspeaking themselves. But it annoys the heck out of me. It would be great if they could stop using the phrase.
What happens is that the image you take will never change. Whether digital or in print, it will remain like that forever. Well, you could manipulate it somehow (e.g., Photoshop). That is the nature of photography. Every frame you take, meaningful or not, allows you to look at something that once was. Why am I talking about this? Usually, I’m not so philosophical. There is a point to this, I promise you.
My favorite television show is Shinbi-no-Kyojin (Giants of Modern Art). It is on TV Tokyo, every Saturday night, at 10 pm. Every week, the program looks at a painter, a building, an architect, or someone creative. It’s great. I watch it religiously every week. In one episode, it featured Nakagin Capsule Tower.
I’m sure you’ve seen or heard of Nakagin. A friend once said it looked like a Rubik’s Cube. He was right. It does look like one of those.
And it will soon be gone. That’s right. Someone will demolish it. One day, I (or even you) will be in Shinbashi, and it will no longer be there. Another example of Metabolism architecture will disappear. That is going to hurt.
And before that happens, I want to get pictures of this fabulous building. I won’t be able to stop time, but I will have some photos of a place that have meaning. They won’t be when Nakagin Capsule Tower was in its prime, but at the end of its life.
That is okay. I will enjoy looking back at a time when the Nakagin Capsule Tower once existed. Photography gives me a little window back into the past. That thrills me. We need to take a lot more pictures. I don’t want us to lose our history.
What’s the point of this story? Well, I’ve walked by that building so many times. I know it well, but I haven’t taken many photos of it. When I had the chance, I just kept walking. That is something I’m going to regret now. Those opportunities will never occur again.
So, take your pictures. Don’t worry if you are in an embarrassing or awkward situation; push that shutter button. Because if you don’t, that time and that place will never return. Time never stops.
Photograph information
- Handheld bracketing
- Each picture here is a composite of two frames
Nakagin Capsule Tower information
- Architect: Kisho Kurokawa
- Architectural Style: Metabolism
- Construction Started: 1970
- Construction Completed: 1972
- Number of floors: 13
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