I took this picture over the weekend in the Harajuku section of Tokyo, just outside the grounds of the Meiji Shrine. This area is popular with many punk and Goth Lolita types. You can see the Goth girl under the umbrella in the rightmost third of the picture. But she wasn't the "freak show" after which I named this image. The real freak show was the photographers who captured her image like she was an animal or a space alien, not a human being.
I stood watching for about 5 minutes, and she drew a constant stream of photographers (all of whom she ignored with that teenage angst look) who took her picture then walked away with out really acknowledging her at all. Full disclosure, I took a picture of her also--but not until I smiled and nodded, pointed to my camera, and made gestures essentially asking for permission to take the shot (only because I speak no Japanese). She still gave me that pained teen look, but nodded "yes" in permission. I like to think I treated her like a bit more of a human than the others did...
It's really interesting what photographers will do to get the shot.
Another photo tomorrow...
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