NORI’s images of inanimate objects have an unmistakable life-force.
His clean, modern lighting and confident execution of imaginative concepts transforms even the most mundane items into art forms. Nothing is still in his work. Everything moves, jumps, flies, like in a memorable one-frame movie.
Copyrights to NORI Inoguchi © All rights reserved
After studying in NY, He started shooting for clients as diverse as Nikon, Bobbi Brown, L’Oreal, Galaxy, Lancóme, Pierre Cardin.
NORI, The extraordinary photographer who started his career in 2009, divides his time between New York, Paris, London and even Japan, his native home, also make time to shoot many personal projects and editorials for International Magazines. His imagery is the outcome of his interest in the unpredictability and surprise of the ingredients he chooses to work with, but through meticulously controlling the studio environment, he finds ways to give life to otherwise inanimate objects, immortalizing a singular moment in time.
His imagery is the outcome of his interest in the unpredictability and surprise of the ingredients he chooses to work with, but through meticulously controlling the studio environment, he finds ways to give life to otherwise inanimate objects, immortalizing a singular moment in time.
Anastasia Tsypkina: Thank you NORI, We are very honored to feature an interview with you and to exhibit your work to our readers. Your projects are most fascinating and I assume most of our readers already got familiar with your work and the big companies you were shooting for, but now we would like them to discover the person behind this unique, and powerfully dynamic quality work!
This month’s issue Focusing in MOTION, and your work is most impressive in that field.
I would like to start from the beginning, tell us about what lead you to the photography field, and to move from clean and clear, sharp style shooting to experiment with Powder bombs, liquid, movement in still life photography and extreme high speed motion?
NORI Inoguchi: From an early age, I was always interested in photography. I used to like to experiment with taking pictures in different ways. I grew up with a very typical Japanese family till I was 18. And then I moved to NY and studied Fine arts and photography. I was also into graphic design and worked as a graphic designer for a few years after graduation. This combination of my educational and Japanese backgrounds led to my minimalist approach in high speed. My subjects are “unexpected.” You can’t take the same moment ever again in any way. That encouraged me to experiment with my subjects on set all day.
A.T: How did you get your first big commercial campaign project?
N.I: When I started assisting a still life photographer in NY, I was lucky enough to use his professional equipment and shoot for my portfolio after work and on weekends. I spent extra time in his studio, at night and over almost every weekend for a year. Within a year, I completed my first portfolio book and found my first agent in NY. After a few months, I got a big world wide campaign for Samsung with Digitas.
Copyrights to NORI Inoguchi © All rights reserved
A.T: Which campaign you liked the most? Please describe the sophisticated aspects behind the project, The Idea behind the shooting and the special technique.
N.I: I love all my work, but the Pierre Cardin Powder project is definitely one of my most favorite campaigns. The creative director was inspired by the Indian holy powder festival. She is a very passionate woman from Brazil. My responsibility was making the products look beautiful in exploded powder. I had a little experience with powder, but not a lot. I spent days and nights with powder before the shoot and now subsequently became a powder explosion expert. My studio was covered in powder all over after the project and the studio looked far from sophisticated, but I was really satisfied how the images came out. I was so excited when I saw the “unexpected” moment. No special technique for my photography; just spend time with the subject and have fun with them is the most important thing.
A.T: You were born in Japan, and was educated in NY, How were those days of studying and what was your point of view on the photography field before the start of your success in 2009?
N.I: I am proud to be Japanese. The culture is very minimal and sophisticated. It’s totally different from Western culture. I was lucky enough to come to NY at age 18 and learned “New York culture.” Everything I saw and experienced in NY was so “fresh” for me. NY turned a little nerdy camera kid into a professional photographer. Coming to NY was my life changing moment. If I wasn’t brave enough to leave Japan at that time, I would not be standing here now. Coming from Japan, a culture that reveres and promotes the art of photography, it was easy to indulge in my passion.
But, NYC, arguably the center of the photography world, was where I honed my love. I’ve actually spent more time in NYC than Japan.
A.T: How would you describe the way of your development during the past 10 years? Would you call it easy and natural or with hard work and calculated?
N.I: After my first big jobs, I thought it would be easy and natural, but it hasn’t been. It is work! I work every day and have to always experiment with new things. I see what competitors are doing. I look at trends. I have to stay fresh, otherwise my work would not be attractive to audiences. Therefore, it’s definitely hard work. You have to have eyes that tell you what is beautiful and what is not.
A.T: What advice can you give the emerging starting photographers in this commercial field?
N.I: Never stop what you are doing, what you are passionate about. It’s important to have your own style, but as a commercial still life photographer unlike fashion or beauty photographers, you have to keep creating something new. In a way, it’s a very “nerdy” job, because you have to spend time with one subject for days to create something no one else can create. Keep your eyes on trends. What’s on the market and how companies want to advertise their products. It’s totally different from 10 years ago and it will be totally different in the next 10 years. Spend time with your subjects without looking through the camera. Look at your subject and talk to them. You will see the best way to show them on camera.
A.T: Let’s discuss your special technique for catching the singular moment in time. You find the way to give life to inanimate objects, Tell us about those techniques and what lead you in the search for them?
N.I: Using the right equipment and a minimal knowledge about lighting and post production are required, but I don’t think I have any special technique that no one else has, but I think I have natural eyes that bring inanimate objects to life. That is my passion and I don’t know how I developed that talent. I just trust myself and be confident about how I am shooting.
A.T: I personally admire the sense of life and energy in your work, we can see that also with the “the High Speed Motion”. What would you choose as the most difficult to shoot?
N.I: I never thought it’s most difficult to shoot, but perhaps the most fun to shoot. Technology is phenomenal in this age. I am glad that I was born in this era. For instance, there is a motion camera that can capture movement that your eyes cannot catch and that didn’t even exist 15 years ago! You can shoot with the camera now in a normal studio and with minimal equipment. Isn’t that just great? Why don’t we take advantage of that?
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to see the moment I couldn’t see with my own eyes.
A.T: From your website, I found out that the field of your work is greatly abroad. What direction you would like to try yet? Can we wait for more, new, experiments with dynamic color?
N.I: Yes, I just keep trying until I find something I’ve never seen before.
A.T: Would you tell us what things inspire NORI?
N.I: To look at something I have never seen. Sometimes just a landscape in a country that I have never been before, a beautiful flower I have never seen before or an art piece from a small gallery in NYC.
A.T: Thank you for the time you could find for me and let’s wish our favorite Lens Magazine, its team and readers more and more colors that shine from the Lens Magazine’s pages.
