portland
Many of you know how much I love double exposure creations. This is a throwback of one I made of my dear friend Huijun, someone I met back while living in Portland, Oregon.
She loves hiking - surrounding herself in nature and challenging herself to experience and see the world. The greenery inspires her, so it felt simply fitting to have a double exposure creation of her with the very source of her peace.
Asuka
Being artsy fartsy is in my blood.
A while back I made a stag mask, and now to join it here is a rabbit mask. Personally I like this one better, as not only is it easier to make but it fits my head quite snugly. Doing photoshoots with the animal masks I make seems to be an emerging tradition.
Masks are interesting to me. They give individuals permission to take on a new persona. They may allow an emotion that has been hiding to come out.
M Kat
A few months ago I had the privilege of shooting with contemporary dancer Nikki Leopold. For those who already know my shooting style, we started off by dancing improv to some music. Many dancers have lovely movement but there was something extremely different with Nikki. Moments within her dancing, I started to feel emotional. Her movement demonstrated something that deeply moved me. It was unfeigned kindness. Accepting of pain that may be received, yet understanding of circumstances, still kind.
That is what I love about improv - to me it is the open door to showing you who are. At least for myself when dancing improv, though my technique may often lack my emotions are expressed, putting heart into movement. I appreciated her demonstrating her genuine self. As a photographer it is my job to photograph the beauty of somebody's authenticity and to have viewers feel what I feel. To see the beauty that I see.
The images from this session made such an impression upon me that I wanted to create a book of it for my photo show that came around the next month. Sadly it did not work out but I hope that you enjoy the photos. I hope that you can feel the kindness that I felt that day.
Masumi
Just about a year or two ago my husband presented me with a Christmas gift that forever left me with a profound love for the circus arts today. He got me tickets to see Kurios by Cirque du Soleil.
Never having seen a circus show before, when he showed me the tickets I was jumping for joy. A month later we were in the seats in a large tent that had beautiful decorations everywhere. After getting comfortable in our chairs and ample time had been given for me to absorb almost everything I could possibly see, the show began and my admiration toward the circus artists began. Throughout the hour or two various artists performed their shows and stunts. Some flipped and jumped in the air, some bent their bodies in ways unimaginable and some shared skills that I never expected to see that night. The show was dazzling, and I fondly remember feeling like life was full of wonder, and after the show concluded there was this beaming light that was inside of me, leaving me with the feeling that there are so many wonderful things to pursue in life. As a parkour practitioner myself I have always loved and appreciated what movement does for not only your body but your soul. After Kurios I now also believe in what the movement arts does for not only the practitioner but the viewers because of my experience that January night.
What I find so beautiful about the art of movement is how it impacts and inspires those who get to experience witnessing it. I could not deny how I felt after the show, that sense of wonder and excitement that filled me. That strong desire to live and dare to dream more. I wanted to create through photography how watching Kurios made me feel and how it personally impacted me. The circus arts is something mysterious and engaging, incredible and also scary. It's an invitation to live an authentic life that will no doubt stand out, but it will stand out as a light.
Thank you to the talented contortionist Marcela Bercovici for sharing her talent, as well as our little child Maddie. It was so neat seeing the two of them bond and become friends throughout the shoot.
M Kat
Hello to you, I hope you are having a nice day.
If your day so far has been rough, I hope these images help calm you. There is nothing like the sky and the birds that ground me.
M Kat
A few weeks ago I had a little mishap with my roll of film. Unfortunately most of the images did not turn out, but on the bright side, I loved how these images turned out.
M Kat
It had been a while since creating a double exposure shot. I received inspiration to create one again after recently seeing a beautiful double exposure image created by one of my favorite photographers @bykikili.
The following are the two images which were combined to create the image you see:
Self-portrait: My husband generously spared a few minutes to take a photo of me indoors. Blank wall, and the flash was used to lighting, bouncing off of the wall.
Trees and birds shot: This was an image that I captured when in Japan a few years ago. It has sentimental value to me since Japan is where my heritage is from, and I love birds because they symbolize adventure and flight.
M Kat
The porch security meowed at me.
M Kat
At the food trucks in Portland Oregon, you can really feel the heart and soul of the cooks put into their dishes. When I purchased this chimichanga, I ordered it specifically because I missed an enchilada and my naive self thought that it looked similar, so why not ask for it? Everything was phenomenal, but the standout of this dish was the different textures that it had. The tortilla was perfectly crispy on the outside, and then soft on the inside. I can go on and on about how delicious and worthwhile this chimichanga was, but let's leave that for Yelp.
Side note: The lady who took my order was so cute. Giving her my credit card as payment, she saw my name and then went on to call me "Ms. Taguchi" for the rest of the transaction (I hadn't changed my name yet to Kat." So cute.
Thanks Poblano Pepper
M Kat
Beautiful foggy morning in Portland, Oregon.
When taking the photo of the stop lights and red car, I was laying flat on the ground on a little island in the street. After taking a few shots, I heard a voice yell, "Are you alright?!" I looked over and there is a lady in her suburban looking straight at me. I responded "yeah thank you!"
Immediately after the signal for her to turn left began and as she was turning she finished our conversation with, "Oh I thought you got hit by a car!" Then she was off and away.
That lady gave me hope for humanity that day.
M Kat
