Photo Blog | Tokyo, Photographer

Each summer I pack my bags and head out of Tokyo. The summer heat in Tokyo is frankly oppressive. I would much rather spend several weeks of June and/or July soaking in the cool mountain air of Asheville, North Carolina.  In my quiet Appalachian hometown, I get to spend time with friends and family, fuel up on fusion sushi (which in Japan is akin to blasphemy), watch fireflies dance, and play with the neighborhood dog named Roxy.

Another benefit of traveling to America is getting the opportunity to collaborate with some of my favorite people. Last summer, my good friend Amanda Anderson of Dollbox Productions and I got to work with the lovely Sarah Harris on a styled shoot. Thanks to the great people of Asheville Glamping, we had the perfect location. We worked in AG's Airstreams and took advantage of the secluded property right outside of city limits.

At the end of it all, I dig how the portraits turned out and look forward to working with this great team again this coming summer!

I had worked with Go Kamada before. I knew him to be quiet and reserved. But, I also knew him to be extremely kind and a talented model to boot. When Go approached me late in the summer to shoot, I was thrilled. After chatting with Go, we decided against shooting a single portrait, a one off. Instead, we decided to shoot a full fashion editorial.

Being fluent in Japanese and familiar with the Japanese side of the fashion industry in Tokyo, Go quickly pulled together a wonderful team. Zen, our stylist, was keen to jump on board. Chiaki Tsuda, an extremely talented make-up artist, was also happy to take part. 

After scouting the perfect location on top of one of Tokyo's hotels and assembling a mood board for our team, I was ready to shoot.

A few days later, team met in Harajuku and we quickly made our way to the rooftop of the scouted hotel and began working. We got several sets wrapped before the hotel's security duty caught wind of our creative team. While the security guards were harsh in tone, at least they didn't call the coppers.

We took our party to the streets of Harajuku and finished our sets without any further problems. In the end, I was extremely satisfied with Suzume No Namida, my first full editorial with Go (but certainly not the last). Moreover, we were all stoked to see the summer editorial published in The Dapifer, a New York based fashion enterprise. 

Sitting down with Hwayun Lee, I immediately realized she is beautiful. But, it only took a few moments to find out that she is much, much more than a pretty face. The young Korean beauty has travelled the world, had internships at some very high profile organizations, and can ride a surf board with the best of them. Chatting with Ms. Lee, I could tell that she was conscientious and incredibly intelligent. I could also see that her the scope of her talents and interests was vast.

Our conversation meandered its way to the purpose of our meeting and we began speaking about our portrait session. Lee related that she wanted to create a set of images that seemed more like a cohesive fashion editorial than a mix-match of images around town. Since Hwayun is interested in fashion, it only seemed natural to gear our portrait session in a way that exuded an editorial look.

I was over-the-moon to hear that Hwayun wanted to have a fashion aesthetic in her set. Once I heard this, I knew that our session was going to be stellar and that Hwayun was an ideal client. With our plan was established, we got to work straight away. Over the next couple of hours, Hwayun and I worked on the rooftop of a metropolitan hotel to get a stunning set of monochrome images. 

Seoul model (and general handsome guy) Steve Wilcox needed a break from the Korean capital. He and his talented girlfriend Deanne decided to head over to Tokyo for the weekend. Steve is a model, Deanne is a stylist and I am a photographer. Naturally, it was in the cards for us to collaborate. When I heard that Steve in Deanne were going to be in town, I jumped at the chance to organize a shoot. Harajuku was the perfect place for a fashion session as it fit with our planned vibe and aesthetic. 

Steve and Deanne hopped on a plane and headed back to Korea but there were more plans for our work together.  Once the editorial was shot and edited, I invited the amazing Ren Dungari on board to write. Ren crafted a beautiful piece about a man, alone in the world. Finally, we pitched the editorial to our good friends over at Kaltblut magazine and the rest is history.

I can't wait for the next time Steve and Deanne need to get out of Korea. Thanks to this wonderful team for a successful project.

Andrew Faulk - Photographer
Ren Dungari (@rendunagari) - Writer 
Steven Wilcox - Model (Motto Entertainment Korea)
Deanne Nguyen - Stylist

Fashion editorial originally published in Obvious Magazine.

Photographer - Andrew Faulk
Creative Director/Writer - Ren Dungari 
Makeup Artist - Kiyana Kemp
Wardrobe - Pin Nap (Harajuku, Tokyo)
Models - Marie Nakagawa (Female), Ren Dungar9 (Female), D-Asa (Male)

I had a splendid time on this fashion inspired shoot. Thank you Angel for having me out for a great day of fashion portraiture. 

Model: Ella Korobova
Stylist: Gene Goh

Model: Yulia Nazipova
Stylist: Carolina Lee