INDEX
Running was the reason I started taking photos.
Takano: What was it about the running team that got you started in photography, RK?
RK: When I changed jobs and started working in graphic design, I gained a lot of weight, partly because I was working at a desk. So I thought it would be nice if I could run once a week for fun, so I asked one of the senior founders of AFE Tokyo, a NIKE running team, to join me.
Celeina：How did you connect to photography from there?
RK: At the time, Instagram had just been released and everyone was taking pictures. So I was told by the founder to “take pictures” and became the person in charge.
Celeina: Did you have any experience with photography before that?
RK: No, I don’t.
Takano: What?
Celeina: So you started out with an iPhone or something.
RK: That’s right. Since I was running, I couldn’t carry an SLR because it was too heavy. So I took pictures with my iPhone, edited them with my iPhone, and posted them on Instagram.
Takano: And now you have more than 760,000 followers. You must have always had a sensitivity to fashion and a variety of other senses.
Celeina: I feel that you have the power to gather people.
Takano: RK’s Instagram is really cool, and one of the photos that generated a lot of buzz was the one of the shopkeeper in Akihabara. How did you come up with that photo with all the electrical parts lined up in a row?
RK: I had already switched to an SLR camera at the time, but I was walking around Akihabara with a photographer friend of mine, a model girl, and I decided to shoot a piece together. Then we really stumbled upon that place by accident and thought it was interesting, so we shot it. Until then, all I had taken were photos of a single person standing alone in a white space, but when I happened to post a photo with a lot of information and a lot of density, the response was amazing.
Takano: It’s really overwhelming. I guess when things, people, or whatever come together, it gives off a lot of power.
Celeina: The colors are so beautiful, RK, when is the moment when you feel like clicking the shutter?
RK: The same as everyone else. When I go somewhere on a trip and decide to take a picture of the scenery because I think it’s so beautiful, I just think, “Should I use my iPhone or my SLR camera?
Takano: Please check out RK’s Instagram. What kind of work have you been shooting recently?
RK: For the past few years, I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t been able to shoot much of my own work. The other day, I went to Indonesia to shoot a balloon piece for KAWS.
Celeina: So let me send you a song here, I asked RK to choose a song that we would all like to hear together on the radio at this time, what is it?
RK: Yes, “Kiss Of Life” by Sade.
Celeina: Why did you choose this song?
RK: Sade is my favorite song in the world.
Celeina: Let’s listen to the song with your love.
