How did you discover photography?
I have always enjoyed travelling and taking photos to capture fun memories. In 2009, my wife and I travelled throughout Northern Africa and Europe. I took so many photos on that trip, mostly with a compact camera and iPhone.
In 2010, I visited my grandparents’ farm and started thinking more about the importance of photography. My grandma had an aerial photo of my family’s farm on the wall from a time before I was born. My grandpa built their house, and I think they had paid someone to take that photo from a Cessna. The photo looked so different from what the farm and neighbourhood looked like in 2010, but it was also different from my memories as a child when I would sit on the back of my grandpa’s bicycle and he would show me around the farm and neighbourhood.
I thought about how things are always changing, and how photos are able to capture a moment in time, and can help us to remember things that have happened. At that point, I had been expressing my art through music, but I became interested in also exploring photography. I had a different full-time job at the time, but I started learning about and doing photography in my free time.
Justina King. Photo: Yuki Wada
Why did you get into fashion photography?
I started my photography career through combining my passion for music and documentary photography, taking photos at music venues around the Kansai region. In music venues, photographers need to be flexible, adapting to different room sizes and lighting conditions. So I learned how to use my camera’s manual settings through taking concert photos.
Through that role, I was offered opportunities to take photos at parties and events in Wakayama, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. As a part of that job, I would walk up to party or event guests and ask if I could take their photos. Most people were dressed up and enjoying a fun time out with their friends, so were often excited to have a photographer capture that moment.
At the same time, I was learning about studio photography and lighting and started collaborating with models with an interest in fashion photography. Sometimes we would take photos in my studio, and sometimes we would take photos outside. I enjoy indoor fashion photography because I have the time, space and lighting to co-create a piece of art with the model and any other collaborators (for example, hairdressers and makeup artists). Outdoor fashion photography is also fun, but completely different from working indoors.
When working outdoors, I need to co-create with everything around me, and things are moving at a much faster pace since lighting conditions could change quickly. In Dunedin, the weather changes pretty quickly, which can be both challenging and exciting. Outdoor fashion photography is fun because I get to include the city or natural spaces in my photos. These photos produce a snapshot of a point in time that might not happen again, kind of similar to the photo of my grandparents’ house.
My photography is inspired by fashion photographers like Juergen Teller, Viviane Sassen and Francois Goize. I particularly like Teller’s and Sassen’s creative aesthetic, and how Goize sometimes incorporates party photos into his fashion photography.
How did your street style series of photos come about?
Before coming to Dunedin, I would always connect with local models to plan indoor or outdoor photo shoots. When I came to Dunedin, I didn’t know many people, so was not sure how I would find models to work with.
But as I walked around town, I started noticing great fashion all around me. I wondered if I could capture the fashion in Dunedin at this particular time. It was a way to combine my interest in fashion photography and documentary photography. It also gave me a great opportunity to meet new friends and possible collaborators in a city I just moved to.
What do you aim to capture in those photos?
When I walk around with my camera, I am looking for people who might be interested in having their photo taken. Many people are in a hurry, so I often have only one or two minutes to make a connection and take a photo.
I often need to take the photo right at the place where I see a person. It all happens very quickly and is difficult to describe, but my goal is to take a simple photo that captures the person’s fashion on that day and in the place where they were at that particular time.
In Japanese we use the term ukiuki to refer to a kind of cheerful energy. I feel like many people who spend time on their fashion have this ukiuki vibe, so I often look for that when I am walking around with my camera.
How would you describe Dunedin’s street style having taken these photographs?
Dunedin’s street style is really fun. When I walk out on the street, I can see so many different people enjoying their own fashion. Dunedin has a strong op-shop culture, which means people are wearing really interesting and different things. And then there are the local fashion brands like NOM*d that I often see around.
The weather in Dunedin changes often, so it is interesting to see fashion change with the weather. Some people wear a lot of layers, but others seem comfortable wearing shorts on a really cold day. Where I come from in Japan, the weather usually changes every season, but in Dunedin there can be four seasons in one day. It’s interesting to see how people can still be so fashionable as the weather changes so much.
Why did you come to Dunedin?
I came to Dunedin in July 2022. My wife works at the University of Otago and I was trying to move here since March 2020, but couldn’t because of the Covid-19 border restrictions. Once we received our residency in 2022, I came as soon as I could.
We live in an apartment in the city centre, so it is really nice to be able to walk around town. Dunedin’s city centre reminds me a lot of Kobe’s city centre, because it’s simple to find your way around on foot, and there are sometimes hills to climb. Dunedin is also near the ocean and has a port (Port Chalmers) like Kobe. My mother grew up on a farm about 45 minutes from Kobe City, so I enjoy spending time in the city on trips to visit my family there.
What are the challenges you have faced as a migrant?
It was really difficult to get to New Zealand and to manage all of the required fees, health checks and paperwork to get my visa and residency. My first partnership visa in February 2020 was not processed because of the first Covid-19 lockdown. We never qualified for any exemptions which would have allowed me to come to New Zealand to be with my wife. It was a long and difficult two-and-a-half years of waiting, so I am really happy to finally be here!
Also, with the rise in Asian hate following the pandemic, I was a little nervous about what might happen when I moved to New Zealand. So far there have been no problems, but it is something I think about. Also, I studied American English at school, and my wife is from the United States, so I am still getting used to the Kiwi English accent. It has been fun learning new phrases like 'Sweet as!' and 'I’m keen!' But I still sometimes struggle when people speak quickly.
You are moving to Auckland?
My wife got a job at the University of Auckland, so we will be moving up there for her work. I am looking forward to finding opportunities to do fashion photography up in Auckland, and to learn more about the fashion culture up there.
That said, I really respect the fashion culture, local brands and emerging fashion designers here in Dunedin, so I am hoping to maintain a connection with the people I have met here and to come back to visit sometimes.
It will be fun to continue taking fashion snaps over the years to see how things change over time. Until I go I’m planning on continuing taking fashion snaps, doing fashion and graduation shoots and event photography.
