A Closer Look at the Work of Photographer and Author MAKIKO

MAKIKO is an award-winning photographer and author. She recently published a documentary/photography book titled Beautifully Different in collaboration with Dr.Landa from Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) to raise awareness of high-functioning autism. She has lived, studied and worked in Japan, France, North America, Switzerland and U.K. and travels extensively. She looks for objects which she can connect with and, as a result, her works display minimal tranquility which come from her inner world. She learned photography in International Center of Photography in New York and exhibited in Japan, North America and Italy and she currently lives in York.

A:Please tell us more about the image that was featured in the magazine and what you call your “unique view of the world”.
M: This image, titled “Obsession” is from Beautifully Different, the book I published last summer. When I documented a gifted child at Union Station in D.C., I ran after him all the way from the platforms to the top of a multi-storied car park until he stopped to observe a particular train coming in. I was thrilled to capture his ingenious world through a viewfinder. It seemed he belonged to the entire scene. I always try to look for something I could personally connect with and, if I realize it, it would be a success, however, it does not happen easily.

A:Your inspiration comes from the environment around you, what else inspires you?
M: I have lived in Tokyo, Paris, London, NYC, Bermuda, Baltimore, Suisse Romande and now York and have visited over 320 cities all over the world. Fragments of images of objects, people, scenery consist of my photography. My six years in Suisse Romande was the most inspirational. While I was spending a simple life in La Côte, I was exposed to the panoramic beauty of Lac Léman shining in sunrise or in full moon, a spectacular view of Mt. Blanc or rare views of meteor showers in late autumn. Also, I used to live above the Roman ruins, I constantly felt energies from the ancient past.

A:You are also an author and create work with found images, tell us more about this practice.
M:I recently launched a documentary/photography book titled Beautifully Different (ISBN:9781783063895) in collaboration with Dr. Landa from Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore to raise awareness of high-functioning autism.I have been working on a children book with my younger child over four years and I am hoping we manage to publish as a storybook or a photography book sometime this year.I started taking “found images” in streets in NYC 15 years ago. Because of uniquecomposition I framed in the viewfinder, some images seemed to be given a new dimension of life. This often happened unexpectedly.

A: Which artists inform your practice and are you influenced by anyone’s work?
M:No photographer inspired me. I always try not to see other people’s works – I would rather read a great amount of books.

A:Where do you see your work going in the future?
M: Earlier last year, I found a photograph I took when I was seventeen. It was an image of a forest on snowy mountains in the Japanese Alps. I realised that my minimalist style has not changed over many years. It is certain that I will continue to take minimalist, edgy or contrasting images. I would like to shoot unique images and leave them behind as proof of my existence. I hope my creative works will be seen in exhibitions and my creative writing pieces and documentary-natured works will be widely circulated to reach people with interest.

You can see more of MAKIKO’s work at makikohall.com

To see his listing in the Artists’ Directory in Aesthetica Magazine issue 62 pick up a copy at www.aestheticamagazine.com

Credit:
1. Water Courtesy of the Artist
2.Untitled Courtesy of the Artist.