Born 1987 in Fukui, Mizutani attended the Tokyo College of Photography after graduating from Nihon University College of Economics. In 2014, was selected for the LensCulture Emerging Talents Awards 2014 Top 50 and the Foam Magazine Talent Call 2014. Mizutani has quickly established worldwide recognition and amassed an impressive list of solo exhibitions in numerous countries, including, Tokyo (IMA), Beijing (aura gallery) , Belgium (ibasho gallery), Switzerland (Christophe Guye Galerie), London (Webber gallery) and Milan (mc2 gallery). His has so far published 4 books from IMA photobooks; ‘Tokyo Parrots’(2014), ‘Colors’ (2015), ‘YUSURIKA’(2015) and ‘HANON'(2016). He lives and works in Tokyo.
Japan –
KT: How did you get into photography?
YM: When I was still wondering about what to do in the future, I encountered “Americans” by Robert Frank. Photography I knew at that time was mainly used for commercial purpose. Therefore, I was thrilled by Frank’s strong photography which vividly documented America at that period. It was a trigger to make myself devote into photography. I learned about more photographers, bought a camera for myself and kept shooting, and it became one of my primary interests. It was a natural development to become a photographer.
KT: Your acclaimed book ‘Tokyo Parrots‘ was unique in nature. What is your fascination with the parrots?
YM: I encountered the Parrots on a tree in my neighbourhood. It was fascinating to find out that exotic species were living in the wild in a big city like Tokyo and its number has been dramatically increasing.
KT: You have published five books by now – ‘Hanon,’ ‘Yusurika,’ ‘Colours,’ ‘Tokyo Parrots’ and ‘Taxi Dirty Book.’ What do you like about the medium of your photography in book format?
YM: There are mainly two ways of showing photography, one is an exhibition, and the other is a photo book. For me, reading photo-books was a trigger to becoming a photographer so that it would interest media and also enable me to express my works. Photo-books make you experience the world which artists present, which differs from the exhibition. You can own it, and you can see it when you feel like and can flip the pages to see what you want to see. That’s what I like about photo-books.
