Workers

Since the '80s, Japan's 'salary man' has been a familiar, if caricatured, figure in the west's pop consciousness. But what about the nation's blue collar workers? This was the question that got me started on this project. At this early stage in answering it, I have no real aims other than decidedly matter-of-fact documentation, along with a vague thematic idea about the stratified, tribal nature of Japanese society. While I don't really know what I'm doing with this yet, I've mostly, in an attempt at stylistic unity, narrowed this submission down to images with a single, central object or figure. I wasn't really sure which 'category' box to tick (Street? Documentary? Open?) but, in time, I hope to better place this photo essay and its subjects within a clearer, perhaps more meaningful, social context.