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"My career as a photographer started with the Olympus OM-2."
I started thinking about photography after I entered design school. Until then, I had really only played with cameras. Photography classes made up part of the curriculum at the school and for the first time, I became involved in the basics of taking photographs.
I’d always loved drawing, and after graduating from design school, I spent some time creating oil paintings. Then I was introduced to a printing company where I worked in the design room handling photography jobs. One day, a friend from the design school told me about an animal photographer looking for an assistant with an understanding of both design and animals. He wondered if I’d like to have a go at it.
Well, I was interested in animals and curious about unexplored regions of the world, so I jumped at the opportunity, thinking I could go to such places if I took the job. Although it turned out to be a case of counting my chickens before they hatched - because I never actually got to travel abroad with the photographer - I did learn a lot while working in his studio and helping him organize his shoots.
I continued working there for about four and a half years before going freelance in 1972, at the age of 29. It was around that time that the Olympus OM-2 was released. I really liked the photos taken by another photographer using the OM-1, the OM-2’s predecessor, and was also taken by the OM-2’s compact body. Anyway, I asked the editors of a photography magazine to introduce me to people in the advertising department of Olympus who, luckily for me, gave me the chance to use the OM-2. After checking out its features, I found it to be easy to operate with a wonderfully sharp lens. I immediately bought two bodies and various lenses ranging from 28 to 300 mm. Because it played a key role at the start of my photographic career, the OM-2 is a camera I’ll never forget.
Since then, I’ve photographed several calendars for Olympus. And in March 2008, I published a book entitled "Let's Go Analog!" in which I recount my experiences with the OM-2, as well as various other cameras I’ve used over the years.
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