Fashion & Beauty

Top 5 Japanese Fashion Photographers

Published on 11 July 2015

words Mandalena Munkonge

 

Adding a unique cultural aesthetic to traditional styles of fashion photography, for the last few decades some of the most prolific Japanese photographers in the industry have been directly influencing a new era of surrealistic, digitally innovative masterpieces in publications worldwide.
Lending an entirely new perspective to instantly recognisable designers and familiar faces in the fashion world, these photographers manage to capture a rare beauty and originality in their work that draws influences from traditional Eastern traditions infused with unconventional contemporary styles of photography.

 

 

 

Sayaka Maruyama

 

 

 Born in Japan and raised in Denmark from the age of 12, photographer Sayaka Maryumama creates beautifully surreal photographs that reflect her polarised upbringing, and tension between Western and Eastern concepts of beauty. The artist credits her three year stay in Europe as the catalyst behind her perspective on beauty, and her complex and stunning aesthetic. After focusing on photography as her main creative outlet, she began to digitally fuse Western concepts of collage, and the ornate rich colours of Japanese print, in series such as Japan Avant-Garde, to create darkly romantic images that capture the intricate art of fashion. 


Yokasuka Noriaki

Over the last century renowned photographer Yokasuka Noriaki paved the way for a new relationship between Western fashion photography and Japanese art, developing the ornate and atmospheric beauty that inspired a new generation of fashion photographers. His already treasured work with designers such as Issey Miyake, and Sayoko Yamaguchi, is only made more precious by the fact that a full body of his work has never actually been compiled. A true artist when it came to photography, he was notorious for breaking away from 40s and 50s convention in his bold portrayals of women. Noriaki’s style of traditional photography is infused with strikingly conceptual visuals, that are dreamlike and disturbing in their beauty and ethereal darkness.


Nagi Sakai

Flawless in their vibrant beauty, Nagi Sakai’s subjects seem to leap off the page in photographs, which use a distinctive perspective that toes the line between the surreal and the real. Working primarily in fashion, Sakai has built his portfolio individualistic art through a range of different mediums and styles, including film and portrait photography. Sakai has shot for high end publications from Harpers Bazaar to Vogue, and his arresting visual style captures the female form in a truly original way.


Toshio Onda

Toshio Onda is another leading name at the forefront of a new era of established Japanese photographers, whose skills have been recruited by esteemed fashion publications worldwide like GQ, for whom he has shot glossy, moody fashion spreads that capture the essence of chic. His elegant visual touch, has an element of darkness to them reminiscent of his forefather in Japanese fashion photography, Yokasuka Noriaki, and reflects on a Japanese minimalist history in his contemporary portrayals of modern fashion.


Yasunari Kikuma

Yasunari Kikuma made his mark with his unique style of fashion photography across the globe, having shot for Vogue, Elle, and Dazed and Confused, and capturing celebrities from Kate Moss to Jane Birkin in his prolific career so far. Kokomo’s quirky and visually stunning use of the camera has made him one of the most in demand Japanese photographers both in the fashion pages and for brands like Adidas and Theory. Kikuma’s trademark minimalist style draws all focus on the subject of the picture and crystallizes it so vividly that it is almost becomes a painting, and is perfect to capture the artistry of modern fashion.


http://www.hungertv.com/feature/top-5-japanese-fashion-photographers/