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With photography, one's intuition instantly becomes one's work, which suits my personality."
I first held a camera when I was a primary school student. It was a gift from my grandfather, who was a painter, and I used it to take shots of flowers and other things before making drawings of them later. It was probably my grandfather's influence, but I had loved painting ever since I was a child, and went on to study art at high school and university, specializing in Japanese-style painting.
After graduating from university, I gave lectures on Japanese art at high schools, and participated in projects reproducing national treasures and other works of art. Unfortunately, a recurring illness forced me to give up working for awhile, and I went to recuperate at a Japanese-style inn in Hokkaido run by Masahito Wada, a local photographer. I spent my time there looking at his photos, and became increasingly intrigued as I realized how much they had in common with the Japanese paintings I was interested in. It was then that my perception of photographs, which until then I'd viewed simply as the raw material for paintings, changed completely.
Meeting my husband, who was already working as a photographer at the time, was a key factor in my decision to pursue a career in photography. He taught me the basics of photography, which I initially approached in a rather leisurely way, just taking shots of this and that. It wasn't long before I began to see the depth and artistic potential of photography. Later, helping my husband when he started his own studio, I began taking photos professionally.
I was also fortunate enough to receive instruction in monochrome photography and darkroom technique from Satoru Watabe, who I look upon as being a true master of photography. This enabled me to react in a more sensitive way to lighting.
Japanese paintings take an enormous amount of time to complete, and sometimes, the image one has in one's mind starts to fade even before the work is completed. That's not the case with photography - one's intuition immediately becomes the work, and that, I believe, is why it suits my personality.
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