MARCELLUS NEALY

Today was the first day for me to work in a photo studio. Until now, I had spent most of my focus on finding treasures in things that happened organically like a live music performance, dance recital, or sporting event. There is something exciting about seeing what moments I can freeze and highlight from the millions that happen in a flash of an instant. It is a metaphor for my life really. Rather than living by some grand, predetermined plan, I have been trying to make se

This is Hopton Brown, aka Scientist. He is the boy protege of King Tubby, the innovator of Dub music. Hopton told me that they called him scientist because he loved to tinker with machines. Many of the effects used in early tub were created or tweaked by Scientist. As a child prodigy, he had a knack for taking things apart and putting them back together again. Even when I was talking to him here in Tokyo, he had a bag full of gear and a screwdriver in his hand. He was worki

Tonight I had the chance to spend time with an old friend. We knew each other in different lifetimes when we were barely 20 years old and full of adventure. Tokyo had plenty of it to offer. Mishaal was a belly dancer and most masterful in her craft. To see her move was to witness the purest form of beauty. It was like watching a spirit dance, someone lighter than reality who existed between this realm and the realm of infinite dreams. She said to me today that now she

A few months before the pandemic hit I had discovered a really great jam session in Shibuya. It was being held every second Sunday at The Room. Those who were lucky enough to be in Tokyo in the 90s and early 2000 during the DJ / dance music boom might remember the Room as THE place to be for a rich tapestry of organic, rhythm driven dance music. Their specialty was Jazz crossover. Many stars have shot out of that basement juke joint. I imagine many more will. Despite

We are who are. This is a simple statement but sums up human nature succinctly, I think. Through the cosmic pull of a lever, a combination of atoms came together to form the complex molecules that created our DNA and every aspect of who we are. They say we have free will, but I am not so sure that we do. I believe there is a kind of natural predetermination at work. Even the seemingly free choices we make are, at the deepest level, controlled by how we were put together

I met a belly dancer last month. Her movements were graceful and sensual. When she performed she was one with the music and she danced as if she were a fairy child from the Far East hypnotizing us with her sensuality and grace.　I arrived at the event late. Apparently she was the third dancer to go on that night. There were six in total, I think. I missed the first three. The two other dancers I saw after her were equally stunning, After the show, my friend introduced m

I found this photo on my hard drive. I had forgotten that I had taken it. The man in the photo was walking past me in Shibuya when I asked if I could take his picture. I had to. His mustache looked like something out of a storybook or an old-timey movie. It was quite a marvel to behold. I have never been good at growing a beautiful beard or mustache. It always goes through the four phases of 1.new refugee 2. not so bad 3. unkempt rogue 4. homeless fellow. I can never t

The quiet sea and I had a conversation about nothing at all. It was great.

A few days ago I posted a rather dubious entry about people working in the shadows at one of my jobs. That person’s behavior is an unfortunate side effects of insecurity. When someone feels as if they are not good enough, they begin to try and tear others down. Perhaps they are caught in some kind of paranoid delusion in which they believe everyone else is out to get them. Actually, I am flattered. Move someone to such jealousy is ultimately badge of honor because it means t

I took this photo some time before the death of my beloved 5D Mark II, a tragedy that predates Covid-19. Tokyo nights used to be wild. I am sure they still are somewhere. Youth is seldom subdued and no amount of danger will ever dissuade thrill seekers from finding ways to test their fate. I miss it. Since the coronavirus outbreak, I haven’t been having very many adventures. I feel like the part of my brain that knew how to be spontaneous and in the moment is atrophying.