Renowned Japanese photographer Yukinori Tokoro is best known for his brightly-colored, fashion and art photography spanning three decades, as well as his commercial work. His latest project, “One Second,” is shot entirely in black and white and features a variety of cityscapes from around the world, with the central focus being Shibuya, Tokyo. Tokoro speaks with 10. Magazine about his attraction to Shibuya and artistically where he is today.

Born in 1961. After graduating from Osaka Art University, Yukinori Tokoro began his career as a freelance photographer. In 1992, he was chosen to represent Japan as a “New Expressionist of the World” at the World Photo Fair “Photokina 92.” Currently, working on his project “One Second,” and holding an exhibition in Shanghai, China. (2010 November 6 – December 19)

10ten Magazine: What is the idea behind “One Second” and how do you show motion in your photographs?

Yukinori Tokoro: When I started shooting Shibuya, I chose the early morning because I thought  I could capture the city more clearly without the crowds, but I came to realize that Shibuya wasn’t the same place without its people. I began to think of ways to photograph the city during the day but without getting in anyone’s way. While I was wandering around one day thinking, I noticed something… Whenever I stop walking and stand somewhere, whether it be in front of the Hachiko statue or a TSUTAYA rental shop, people keep passing right in front of me but somehow their faces look blurry and unrecognizable. I couldn’t get a sense of the individuality of any of these people. It was a unique feeling. I was able to visually see individual people, but I couldn’t really distinguish them from the other faces. I thought that this sensation might be interesting to show in my photos. I decided to include people in my photographs as sort of accessories of the city-maintaining the city itself as the main character. To make the accessories more interesting, I thought, “What if I caught the sense of motion by making the people blurry ?”

Ah, so that’s why the people in your photos are blurry. But what about the “One Second” concept, why did you decide on one second as the period of time you wanted to express?

To show time or motion is usually left up to the movies, not photos. At first I didn’t think it was possible to show one second in a single photo. Then I thought maybe I could combine three shots to express the past, present and future and show it in one photo by releasing the shutter 3 times in 1 second. I chose one second because I thought of one second being the simplest time frame to show in a photograph. Around that time I also began to think about the role of photography in art and expression. There is this idea that photography is meant to “be the tool to cut out a certain moment in time.” But what is a “moment,” really? It sounds like we can cut out one particular fragment of time, but we really can’t. Because even if I release the shutter at 1/125 of a second, you can still divide that into smaller pieces, the possibilities of division are unending. As there’s no standardized way to define the idea of a “moment,” I went ahead and decided on my own time frame, and try to show what can happen in the frame of one second. Conceptually I thought that “one second” would be easier for more people to grasp.

Out of all the cities you have been to and worked in, why did you choose Shibuya as the main focus ?

I feel like home there. And to be honest, there are no other photographers that can show such an intimate understanding of Shibuya in their photographs. If I name the cities I like, I say Paris, NYC, et cetera, but there are a bunch of other photographers taking pictures of those cities, but not Shibuya. Right now, I feel that I’m the only one who can do this job. Sure, I take photos of Paris, NYC and Shanghai, but Shibuya has to come first for me.

【One Second Project】Capturing the Shibuya Crossing ＆ QFRONT, from Hachiko Place

In your Shibuya photos, you seem to pick places where there used to be buildings that were important to you. When you see the city change and the old buildings disappear: do you feel sad, or do you take the changes in the city positively?

My feelings are really mixed. I feel a certain kind of nostalgia for the old city, but I have expectations and a sense of excitement for its future as well.

The fact that you are taking these photos in black and white is significant, especially since you used to take lots of very colorful photos for fashion publications and commercials. Why are you taking photos in black and white now?

Well, long story short, I wanted to start my career over, a sort of “reset”. Before 2007 I call myself “my dead brother,” and separate that part of my life from my current career. There were just so many things that made me want to leave commercial photography. So, in order to “reset” my career, I wanted to do something totally different from before. I shifted from people to scenery, color to black and white. My career sort of had a rebirth after 2007.

Interesting. Since the pictures from those two eras are so different, I suspect that some people were surprised?

Actually, there was this one time that I was thought to be “another” Yukinori Tokoro! When I had my first individual exhibition (in my second era), I hand carried my work to the Asahi Camera Gallery and the person in charge there said, “Your photos are all so interesting. And it’s funny, because I know another photographer whose name is Yukinori Tokoro as well…but his taste is totally different from yours!” I guess they looked that different, huh? But there also are some very loyal fans of mine who still recognize my photos from the second era. They say that for both eras, my works carry the same kind of dreamy atmosphere.

From the 70s to the 80s, you primarily took high-fashion photos. Was fashion your original photographic interest?

Not, exactly. It’s just that in the 70s, fashion was the most interesting scene to take pictures among all the others. Afterwards, it moved on to music, then to sports. I just worked in the field that was the most interesting at the time.

I can see that your works during those times were very colorful and bubbly. Do you think there was any connection or influence from the Japanese bubble economy? You know, everything was so bright and extravagant…

Probably, there must have been some connection between my work and the era. All my works were pretty bright, as you’ve mentioned. Techniques I was developing at the time were pretty different from other photographers who were just relying on color printers to show color and mood. My process was much more involved. I took pictures using an 8 x 10 camera, printed them, airbrushed the prints and then took another picture of the photos I’d touched up. The photos were very colorful and I used this technique for a lot of magazine covers. The “brightness” of my pictures really stood out from the rest.

Most of your work during that period was for magazines and commercials, because you were hired to do a creative thing (take photos) there is both a business aspect as well as a creative one. Did you ever feel any conflict reconciling the business side of things to your artistic side?

From my point of view, I have always been an artist, no matter what I was taking pictures of or for whom. I create my art using my cameras, and it so happened that there are a certain number of people who have liked my art enough that I’ve been able to make a living from taking pictures. Like I said before, especially in the first era of my career, my photos stood out from the others at the time very much; I got lots of calls from people in advertising, and so on. I guess I was pretty lucky that I actually got to choose what I wanted to do.

You are very lucky. I’ve never met anybody able to work in this way!

Actually, me neither. (laughs) I know I’m very lucky.

You have a rather long career so far and you’ve taken most of your photos with color. Now that you take black and white photos, does anything about the difference surprise you? When you look through your camera’s viewfinder, you see things in color, but when you make your prints they come out black and white. Do the photos ever reveal something you didn’t plan?

Not really, no. I have so much experience that whenever I release a shutter, I have a completed image in my head that I’m trying to replicate. Color or black and white, doesn’t really matter. I think that I’m really good at showing different qualities of shade, so color pictures I’ve taken before would look good even if you print them in black and white.

Out of my curiosity, has anything weird ever happened to you because of your fame? (laughs)

Yes, I had a stalker! For three days, night and day an odd woman stood in front of my house and just stared at it. After a while, she came and rang the doorbell. I opened the door with the security chains hooked, but she tried to squeeze in and kept on saying, “Please open the door! Let me in!” It was so scary, even to remember it now! (laughs) Luckily on the fourth day, she was gone.

Wow, that it scary. But I would expect that some good things happen too because of your fame?

That’s true. I think it’s easier for me to meet or work with the people I want to, I think. For example, years before, I was thinking, “This year, I want to shoot Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shinji Takeda, and Etsushi Toyokoawa,” and I was actually saying this around to people I worked with- in three months I got to shoot all three of them!

You’ve worked with so many amazing people and you’ve also had the opportunity to work all over the world. In the future, which country or city will be the center of your work and life?

I’d say, whichever place needs me the most! After all, I take a picture for just one person who wants it. Art can be art only when there’s someone who recognizes it as it is. So my job is to make those people who like my art happy. That’s why I place a great importance on communicating with my fans through mixi, Facebook and Twitter.

I see. I heard you began using Facebook and Twitter just recently. Is that because you want to communicate with you fans outside of Japan?

Yes. I used to be pretty committed to mixi, but to communicate with people internationally, Facebook is much better. I introduce my work there as well, it can sort of work as my portfolio, too.

Could you tell us 10 things / places you like about Shibuya?

1) Shibuya is convenient: There’s an Apple Store nearby that I can go to whenever I have some trouble with my iPhone, and I can find all my favorite clothes stores here, too. Good access by train and subway to places in Tokyo like Daikanyama, Harajuku or Roppongi. There’s also a bus going to Narita or Haneda airport, as well. Transportation is so good and plentiful that my car just may die out of lack of use.

2) It’s a melting pot of people: There are a bunch of amazingly fashionable people walking around in Shibuya, along with those who don’t care a thing about fashion, and there are lots of artists, too. From kids to grown-ups, this city has so many unique people. And different groups of people gather on different days or even times of the day-it’s pretty interesting.

3) There are lots of good ethnic restaurants (Balinese, Vietnamese, or Nepalese): Mainly around the Sakuragaoka area.

4) QFRONT, one of my favorite places: I like to lean on the glass wall of the building, and watch people walk by. So much information enters directly into my brain, but I can still manage not to get in anybody’s way if I’m leaning up against the building. It relaxes me, too.

5) Pedestrian bridges: Especially the one near Shibuya police station. I like to just stand on it and stare at the city.

6) My atelier: I have everything I need for my creation, and I have this sofa that I had made exclusively for me. I’ve been using it for 23 years. It’s so comfy and relaxing.

7) In the spring, I like Sakurazaka; the street is full of cherry blossoms. It’s so beautiful that I lose interest in going anywhere else for hanami.

8） My favorite pizzeria, whose name I can’t reveal: Not to mention that their pizzas are great, but I love their antipasto! Also the owner there is very nice.

9) Shibuya Tokyu and Shibuya Station as a group: Tokyu is connected to the station, so you can’t really recognize the greatness of the architecture if you are too close to it. But if you go across the street and look at them as a whole, you can see that the architecture is absolutely wonderful. That Tokyu has been there for more than 50 years amazes me! I’d love it if they choose it to be a World Heritage site. I recommend that you look at it around 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning from under the Yamanote Line area, or from three 3:00 to 5:00 pm from Hachiko or the Moyai monument. From these two places you can actually feel the greatness of the building.

10) To be in the crowd of the city; it’s so bustling that you can lose yourself in it: It’s almost like you are meditating or something. You hear so many words flying around, and when they all come into my brain, they gather and make one picture like a puzzle. Words become reoriented into new words, new sentences, it’s such a unique feeling. I guess I can get this feeling in Yurakucho or Ginza’s crowded area too, but since I have lived in Shibuya for a long time, the reoriented words or sentences fit me the best, I think. I have lived in this city for like 60 % of my life!

Thank you very much and we wish your success with your project and art work!

Thank you too!

●Interview & Writing: Natsuki Yamada, Cylinda Marquart
●Editing & Proofreading: Hideaki Komesu
● Photography: Yuki Fuse

More About Yukinori Tokoro:
If you liked his photographs here, Tokoro would be happy to accept your friend request on Facebook. Please make sure you mention that you read his article in 10.

● Official Website: http://tokoroyukinori.com/
● Twitter: http://twitter.com/TOKOROyuki
● Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yukinori.tokoro