A New Year and New Studio Surprisingly, January is not a very popular time to photograph headshots nor portraits (no pandemic withstanding). It’s cold and while the Tokyo illuminations images are absolutely spectacular, they often aren’t practical to use all year round. This time of year, I would be covering events such as Japanese Shinenkais or New Year Parties for companies wanting a great start to the new year ahead. Feeling a bit restless, I […]
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What a year! Many of us are sitting down to soba and tempura to welcoming the new year. Take a look a some of our memorable event, branding, headshot, and portrait sessions during our difficult yet hopeful 2020 year. TOPTIA’s Memorable 2020 Moments
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2020 was my fourth year shooting Shichi-go-san sessions with seven, five and three year-old children and their families. Japanese, international or bi-cultural children present themselves in kimonos to their local priests at a Japanese shrine. There, families watch as the priest blesses each child as they progress to the next stage of a long and healthy life. What struck me about 2020 was how diligent many of the children were about keeping themselves safe. While […]
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I’m on a bus heading towards Tsunan, Niigata to photograph a children’s outdoor camp and I get a message from a young fashion University student, Sophia Mirto. She said she saw my images of June’s Black Lives Matter March and asked me about featuring a few of my images in a BLM project she was working on. It took me by surprise because there were so many photographers, videographers, and dedicated photojournalists at the event […]
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Seeing Tomoya and Matt happy and healthy after so many months of being on lockdown was a breath of fresh air. Matt Miller and KEEN’s journey with raising awareness of the mirco affects the March 11th earthquake disaster had on Tohoku children since I first photographed for Mirai no Mori 3 years ago. As with many people, Matt, the director and filmmaker of his documentary My Invincible Compass, organized his symposium with fewer audience members, […]
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