Do you take into consideration the relationship and distance
between you and the subject?
As
I mentioned before, if they haven’t accepted me then I cannot photograph them.
I’ve been told by people that my photos are close to the subjects and so on,
but there are people who do not accept me and the mood in those situations
doesn’t allow me to photograph them. I think that’s why some people say my
photos are close to the subjects.
I would think that there is some amount of spiritual exchange
between the subject and yourself, but when you are shooting, do you approach it
objectively?
I
don’t take photos thinking about objectivity. There is naturally some sort of
connection between myself and the subjects, that’s what I think is interesting.
That connection appears in the photos and gives the work its originality, and
without it there would be no reason I photograph. I don’t remember when it was,
but an editor once told me that all of my photos were centrally composed, and I
realized that they were like that. Also, large groups of people are rarely in
my photographs. Generally it’s one person, or around three at the most. I think
it says a lot about myself. I’m not fond of loud places where the many people
gather. I rather prefer being with one or two people.
In the sense of relationships, would you say that it is easier for
you to focus on stories or events on an individual level?
Large
events really do not draw me in. Up until now, I’ve photographed several big
news stories, but I am not really good at photographing those events. Of course
there are photographers who demonstrate their abilities in those situations,
but I am more interested in stories that don’t draw attention of many people.
When you reflect upon all your works until the present, how do you
interpret the changes within them?
At
first, I didn’t know much about how to express myself through photographs, and I
simply followed the stories; but as I developed a deeper understanding of
photography, I began to think about what sort of things I wanted to express through
photographs. But when I think too much there is this risk of falling into a trap where it’s not possible to photograph through instinct.
So, when you press the shutter would you say that it’s pure
instinct, in an almost involuntary state?
It’s
less what you would call involuntary, and more that I am wholeheartedly trying
to capture that moment in time. I think that without doing so the circumstances
wouldn’t exist, and I wouldn’t be able to capture it on film. But, as my
understanding of my photography grows deeper, the feelings of how I want to
express things in my photos come forward, and I might imitate the ones that
went well for myself. And then that would connect to ideas on how to best
capture a moment, which then results the photos becoming very artificial. So,
it’s not “how to shoot”, per se. I want to photograph without expectation or
any deliberate intention . In all of that, since I have an interest in human
existence as I mentioned earlier, I hope to take a photo where some aspect of
existence is captured on film—these are basically my only thoughts while I am shooting.
Your work is mainly done in monochrome, is there a particular
reason for this choice?
Before
I go to shoot, I generally imagine what I see, and for whatever reason the
images come to me in monochrome. But, most of my work commissioned by clients
is in color, and each time I feel moved by the power of it.