Born in 1979, Hideka Tonomura graduated from the Broadcasting and Filmmaking Department of Osaka Visual Arts School and began photography in 2002. She published her first photobook “mama love” in 2008 with Akaaka Art Publishing, revealing her deepest pain and the dark, hidden secrets of her family, leaving an unforgettable impression. In 2013 she published “They called me Yukari” with Zen Foto Gallery, in which she documented the life and people around her when she was working as a hostess in Kabukicho, Shinjuku.
KT: How did you get into photography?
HT: I was taking films at the beginning. When I was 20 years old, I found a camera which my grandfather used during the war, and I had thought to take photographs of my mother’s nude.
KT: In your work you often deal with the body, nakedness and erotica. Has your photography practice changed you and the way you look at these things over the years?
HT: There are no boundaries between nakedness, sexuality and the everyday reality to me. The reality in front of my eyes, the reality is the full vision, and the vision is an absolute reality. I just keep taking photos of them. There is no lie in this world. Everything is a lie because it is true.
KT: You have published two books by now – ‘Manda Love’ and ‘They Called Me Yukari’. What do you like about the medium of your photography in book format?
HT: There are three books published so far. “Manda 恋 love”, “They called me Yukari” and “Orange Elephant.” The expression is not the medium. The picture taken at that time was me at that point, and it is a photograph which is inevitably sought.
