When it came to it, I didn’t have the guts to get the shot off. And that’s probably why I’m not a photojournalist. I was thinking about this the other day. I was wandering around Kyoto a few months ago, camera at the ready, itching to take a photograph of a Geisha. Then I rounded a corner and heard the unmistakable tinkling sound of the Ogi-bira kanzashi – a hair ornament traditionally worn by a maiko, an apprentice geisha. There she was, right in front of me. I had my camera in my hand, I was all ready to go.

But I just couldn’t do it. 

It felt disrespectful. It didn’t feel right.

So here are a couple of photographs of some tourists in traditional Japanese attire instead.