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Eastern Reveries: A Chat with Photographer, Keta Tamamura

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Trivial things in daily life, subtle feelings that we can’t quite name, and uneasiness that we can’t fully understand; the young, and very talented photographer, Keta Tamamura, channels all these ephemeral elements and his love for distinctly Japanese themes into his artistic photography.

Can you give us a brief background of yourself?

I always liked art, drawing, and making things with my hands since I was a kid. Later, I wanted to go to Art college, but I thought I wasn’t qualified enough. Then I went to Tokyo Denki University and studied engineering.

The classes there were different than what I expected. I thought I’d be constantly making things with my hands. While at school there, I was a member of the photography club, and my friends really liked my photos. This made me want to pursue photography further.

After finishing university, I transferred to Nihon University Art College and majored in photography. In my third year, I studied under Yohei Suzuki. Now I assist Yohei, and also I do my own photography work.
I’m also proud to say that I won an award at the “1_WALL” competition in 2016.

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Where do you get inspiration for your photography?

During art college, I read a book titled, Fun Photography – Photo School For Good Kids, written by photographer Takashi Homma. He detailed the history of photos and how to observe photography. It inspired an interest in me for artistic photography. After that, I encountered an article about fashion photography in Japan written by the last editor-in-chief for DUNE magazine, Fumihiro Hayashi.

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In Japan, people tend to love creative works from western countries. However, I love Japanese movies much more than western movies. I always consider myself to be very Japanese, and I like the atmosphere and nuance that come from quiet and gloomy feelings.

My teacher Yosuke Suzuki’s photo book, Curry Rice (カレーライス) also has a strong Japanese leaning. It also possesses somewhat of a gloomy and nostalgic tone. He named his book, Curry Rice, because it reminded him of a scent from his childhood as an elementary school student.

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You have several cute girls on your Instagram feed. Is this another hobby of yours?

My first photo exhibition at university was about girls. Back then, I dated many girls and took photos of them. Taking photos was a good excuse for asking them out (laughs).

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You’re also responsible for fashion photos for O.N.S Manual Japanese Street Style. What is your concept when taking these shots?

The O.N.S Manual is read by an overseas audience, so I try to take shots of quintessential Japanese people. I like to capture the natural expression on Japanese faces. I enjoy taking photos of girls wearing cute, almost childish sweaters, ones not popular in western countries.
Also I like shooting people wearing well-known brands, but still have their own style shine through. For instance, a guy wearing Supreme, but not knowing exactly how to style it. In the fashion world, he might not be perfect, but I like these juxtapositions as subjects for photos.
I also like capturing distinctly Japanese things in my frames like house walls Tokyo taxis.

 What kind of photography would you like to create in the future?

I have been taking photos of futsuhana (flower arrangements for Buddhism altars). Someone kept placing these flowers at accident sites. The flowers were so beautiful, and I could not believe they were futsuhana every time. I’ve taken a 1-year break from shooting these flower arrangements, but I want to create it as collection.

Also, there is a radio tower close to my parent’s house and whenever I go there, I stare at it. I see the tower when I am happy or sad. So I plan to make work titled “Thinking of the Tower.”

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See more of Keta Tamamura’s photography here.

Follow Keta Tamamura on Instagram here:


Photo of Keta Tamamura by: Yosuke Suzuki Erz)

Additional photos from Keta Tamamura Archive

Original Text by Akihiro Tajima


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