Tilt-Shift Photography Transforms Tokyo into a Miniature Playground

Japanese photographer Takahiro Yamamoto dwarfs the massive city of Tokyo in his series called It's a Small World. Using the tilt-shift technique, he selectively focuses on a tiny sliver of the overall image while the rest is left as a blur of color and shapes. The portion that's legible resembles the type of miniaturized toys you'd see on a model train set.

Tilt-shift photography makes even the most mundane scene look fantastical. A half-full parking lot in the Ariake region takes on an unexpectedly playful feel as a car is now small enough to hold between your thumb and index finger. Likewise, busy intersections are slowed to a halt as the ant-sized figures are frozen in place. This whimsical exploration of Tokyo acts as a reminder that while cities like these may seem grandiose, it all depends on your point of view.

Above: Kamakura

Setagaya

Shibuya

Shibuya

Shinjuku West

Ariake

Sinjuku South

Roppongi

Shinjuku West

Takahiro Yamamoto: Website | Behance | Facebook
via [The Khooll]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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