Tomoko

I had recently a reunion with Tomoko. She came to visit my office in Yokohama before it got dismantled. (I am now officially, a homeless man with no office).

We laughed a lot and had such a good time.

I took her photo first time many years ago. Then her photos were shown in my exhibitions over the years.

I thought they are some of the closest photos to what I think my photography is as it’s best.

In one of my favorite photos she was wearing a fluffy soft muffler, the same that my son used to wear when I took him to kindergarten.

Printing this photo in dark room from the negative, a chill ran down my spine. This got that something in it. Not sure what it is though.

I always said that my photos have a sentimental feel to them, and that sentimentality is a necessity for photographs. I don’t think I knew exactly how right I was; it hits harder since passing of every year.

But then, Tomoko was always so playful and she has a mischievous nature, elevating the photos we took into more than just calm sentiment. She seemed to challenge my idea of what I think the moment should be – laughing and goofing around in unexpected moment.

Photographer is always alone. There is something about this journey that needs to be experienced alone, otherwise it loses it’s power.

We can never view the world through eyes of others, we got to experience it alone.

I would like to think these photos are quite close to what I think my photography is.

But it could also be, that this is nothing but a beginning.