Terrace Square Photo Exhibition
Yusaku Aoki interview

Terrace Square Photo Exhibition vol.5 held at the entrance of Terrace Square in Kanda Jimbocho is an exhibition that will make you interact differently with photos by asking you the simple question : What do you see?
Starting on the 27th of february, Terrace Square will host a photo exhibition of the young photographer Yusaku Aoki who is also active and known overseas. Through the lens of the photographer we hope you’ll feel his work.

ー When did you start photography?

When I was in my 4th year of college I had a lot of free time and I started to take pictures with a camera that was in the apartment I lived at that time, I starting taking picture of the apartment itself at first. I bought the camera at the “yodobashi camera” store and if there wasn’t any camera on sale at that time I might have never started photography.

ー What kind of picture have you taken so far?

There were many shots related to music. When I started taking pictures, I had the opportunity to shoot one of my favourite artist. That was shocking to me at that time. Eventually I decided not to take the job. After that, I did a lot of photos of live performances and artists for about 2 years or so.

ー Please tell me the concept of “Untitled Portraits”

The subject of this exhibition is a portrait photographed in public transportations abroad and also daily photos of clouds. The concept also consists in the relationship that the photographer can’t intentionally control and touches the subject at all.

ー Where did you shoot these photos?

In the public transportations in Berlin, Paris and London. The clouds series were taken from the veranda of my house and also the sky from above Doha.

ー The relationship with the subject is very unique, isn’t it?

In these shoot, I can’t control the subject as a photographer. The other party does not know me, and are not aware of me in the first place. Usually I was shooting face to face with the subject while looking closely, so it was a refreshing experience.

ー It is really interesting. What kind of people did you want to shoot in this town?

I was attracted by certain people with a captivating light or charm to them. In this series, I couldn’t control the lightning as well so how I was using the natural lightning was a really important part of the project. Usually people wouldn’t want to take picture in these conditions with such low light. But I didn’t hesitate when I saw that particular glow on some of them and I just took the picture.

ー Please tell me about an anecdote while shooting this series.

At that time I used a long lens to shoot which in its way look suspicious already. But the camera I have is a camera with the viewfinder on top so I could just pretend to look down, focus and “Clic” the picture was taken. But the main problem was that the shutter sound was pretty loud. So sometimes I would turn around quickly and take a picture at the same time so it was like “what happened?” “What sound?”. Every time I shot for this series I was really nervous.

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ー Your work is impressive, especially the distance you have between you and the subject. How do you think about the distance when taking the picture ?

It depends on the subject I guess, but even sometimes with the same subjects you can have multiple ways to shoot them and it’s often surprising.
For example the distance between the subject and me play a big part in which we can see different pictures as the outcome during the same shoot.

ー Your work with the light is impressive as well, how do you capture the light?

I always think of a way to have the best light before shooting, how to draw the best light possible. If we let too much light pass through it’s not good either, we always try to avoid to have too much brightness. Like I said before in this series I couldn’t control the light so I always tried to shoot when I thought the light was the best at that moment.

ー I heard that you’re using film to shoot, why is that ?

The camera industry evolve everyday and rapidly, so I didn’t want to be subject to these changes and to have to buy the newest one every time it came out. So I shoot with films and edit them on the computer so it might not look like it’s taken with a digital camera. I am not a pro of shooting with films so I don’t develop photos by myself.
Sometimes when I come across a camera that I’m comfortable with I think I could change to digital. However there’s a reason we’re still using film in the film industry, you don’t know what to expect until you develop it.

ー Are you influenced by any writers or photographers?

There are plenty. Recently, I was shocked by the portraits of the 18th and 19th centuries I saw at the Louvre. I photographed people who were clustered in front of the Mona Lisa painting, but I got scolded (laugh).

ー What does the word “photo” represents for you?

It is like painting using light. It is also the origin of the word “Photography”. I can’t paint, so photography always helps me to express my ideas.

ー How would you like people to enjoy the exhibition?

While working on this series I always had a beer or coffee around. So I’d like people to come see the exhibition while drinking something they like and just enjoying the moment.

• Terrace Square Photo Exhibition 5
  「Untitled Portraits by Yusaku Aoki」
• Location: 3-22 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda Ward – Terrace Square 1F entrance lobby
• Date & time: starting February 27 (monday) from 8:00 to 20:00
• Closed days: Saturday, sunday and on public holidays