Everyday Is Like Sunday
I was obsessed with photography as a kid and there were plenty of photographers I loved, but Terry Richardson’s work hit different. I was in New York at some point and decided I had to work with him, so I called his studio every single day for a year until he finally broke and said yes. Working with him taught me more than just how to light a face or frame a shot—it was how to actually be with someone when you’re photographing them, how to keep things loose and easy so the work can breathe. I owe him everything. We’re still friends.
When I moved back to Tokyo to open my own studio I was terrified. I didn’t know if it would work, if people would care, if it would all just fall apart. But it didn’t. Things fell into place almost too easily. I started shooting whoever came through—celebrities, models, the Beastie Boys, Lady Gaga, Aoi Miyazaki, Yoko Maki. Everyone brings their own energy and that’s the whole point. There’s no bad subject if they’ve got something going on.
One thing I started doing years ago was making Polaroids of people I meet, and I’ve never stopped. Most people like it. There’s something about Polaroid that cuts through everything—you shoot it and there’s this moment where nobody’s thinking about anything except what’s in front of the lens.
Milo was born in January 2009 and that changed everything. Becoming a father rewires you in ways you can’t predict. It didn’t change how I work though. The studio runs the same way. If he becomes a photographer I’d be thrilled. If he does something else creative, that’s fine. I just hope it’s something where he gets to make things.
I eat constantly. Japanese food mostly—tonkatsu, sushi, yakiniku. There’s a place, FukuSushi, where I eat way too much sushi. Living in Tokyo, I can eat the best version of everything and I don’t take that for granted.
Working with nude models is just part of the job after all these years with Terry. There’s nothing weird about it. It’s the work, that’s all it is.
I’ve been to Europe a few times but never Germany, which I want to change. Europe’s impressive. I want to show my work there more, do more exhibitions, eventually have something international. My advice to younger photographers trying to build something is obvious but it’s true: find someone whose work matters to you and try to learn from them. Shoot everything in front of you. Then keep doing it. For me right now it’s just more shows, more exhibitions, as much as possible. That’s the next phase.