Photo Essay: Yamanote Rain

Or, how to get out of your own way.

30 stops. 30 shots.

I’m an overthinker and control freak.

When I started street photography, I loved how freeing it was — no control over people, weather, streets. Just shoot!

But I tend to get caught up in details, overcritical, creatively stuck — rejecting photos before I even take them.

It’s so easy as photographers or artists to get hung up on getting the “perfect shot” — or otherwise get in our own way with overthinking or perfectionism.

One day last May, I tried an experiment: Ride every stop of a metro line without getting off, and take exactly ONE photo per stop. They didn’t have to be good.

30 stops. 30 shots.

Tokyo’s JR Yamanote line runs in a circuit with 30 stops and, on a rainy day, I rode the full loop — boarding at JY30 Yūrakuchō, taking one photo for every stop.

Some of these shots I’d never post on their own, but all together I find them beautiful. Aside from micro crops, they’re straight out of the camera — shot on a custom Positive Film-based Ricoh GRIII setting + a physical “Black Mist” filter.

It was fun, re-energized my practice for weeks, and I ended up with a photostory I love of a very green and rainy spring day.

Some favorite photos below.

#1-10

During this first set, my lens got directly wet and foggy (!) which, while nerve-wracking, gave these a dreamy diffusion that I love.

Yūrakuchō 有楽町
Shimbashi 新橋
Hamatsuchō 浜松町
Tamachi 田町
Takanawa Gateway 高輪ゲートウェイ
Shinagawa 品川
Ōsaki 大崎
Gotanda 五反田
Meguro 目黒
Ebisu 恵比寿

#11-20

During this second set, my lens defogged, so you can see the dreamy natural diffusion wearing off. I jumped off briefly at Harajuku and Sugamo stations.

Shibuya 渋谷
Harajuku 原宿
Yoyogi 代々木
Shinjuku 新宿
Shin-Ōkubo 新大久保
Takadanobaba 高田馬場
Mejiro 目白
Ikebukuro 池袋
Ōtsuka 大塚
Sugamo 巣鴨