On the wonder of photography

Photography is one of the means by which I can communicate my heart's voice, something that words alone cannot fully express.

To take good photos, I have to want to take them. I need to find the things in daily life that interest me. What do I like? What would I enjoy seeing. I begin by asking these questions, and listening to the answers my heart provides.

For example, there's a surprisingly inexpensive local flower shop where I enjoy buying flowers every week. So, why not take a photo of some flowers with that dragonfly I found the other day? I was moved by the precision and beauty of the dragonfly's wings when viewed through a macro lens. And they were so thin and fragile, it was almost heartbreaking.

So how can I can communicate what I feel at that moment in a photograph? When I have listened to the answers of my own heart, I begin to take photographs and move closer to the image I have in mind. For people like me who are not good at putting things into words, photographs are the ideal way to express emotion.

A little i-D
Ever since it first appeared, the British magazine i-D has featured unsettling and somewhat dangerous-looking photographs of young people. Taking my cue from that, I set out to capture the free, rebellious spirit and passion for life revealed in the photos of young women seen in the pages of i-D magazine. And since so much of my work is done in the studio, I thought it would be to just go out and fire away, using only the camera's built-in flash. So when our regular work was finished, I got hair and make-up artist Kei Kouda to help, and we asked three girls, working in publishing and public relations, to be our models. I think I was able to capture a "now" moment that the girls that don't ordinarily reveal.

*  Click on the thumbnail to enlarge image.