Sayuri Ichida takes her camera everywhere. Unagi talks to Ichida on shooting New York Ballet Dancer, Mayu Ogura.

From moving to London from her home in Tokyo, to now settling in New York, Sayuri Ichida has always taken her camera everywhere. Ichida is currently exploring the idea of self and her images of New York Ballet Dancer Mayu Ogura visualise the displacement an immigrant feels finding their home in a foreign country.

We were inspired by your work showcasing how difficult it can be as a foreigner settling in a foreign place. What made you make the move to New York? 

Before I left Japan, I worked in the fashion industry and I always had this impression that Japanese fashion is influenced by western trends. At that time I was working at a commercial photography studio and was tired of seeing these copied ideas and creations. I made up my mind and decided to move to a place where the trends are born. I first spent two years in London where I first got a taste of life as an immigrant. In 2012, due to a visa issue I had to leave the UK and chose New York as my next destination.

You have been in many group shows with other Japanese artists including “Next Generations of Daido Moriyama”. Has Moriyama impacted you in your work? 

Yes. Daido Moriyama was one of the first photographers we learned about in my photography school. We were taught to follow his advice as photographers, such as carrying a camera with you all the time. Of course his strong artwork itself was a big inspiration to me, however, what I learned more from him was the importance of having your camera with you all the time and being ready to shoot whatever jumps into your sight. 7. If someone had not seen one of your images before, how would you describe it? In my work, I look for beauty in scenes that evoke a sense of nostalgia and timelessness, these two elements that I believe are fundamental to all of my photography. For the past few years, my focus has been landscapes, portraiture, and themes of identity and self. 

Your friendship with Mayu Ogura was revisited in a set of images where Ogura, who is 33 weeks pregnant walks the streets in her ballerina outfit. What impulsed you to work with Ogura again? 

I met Mayu through my husband, his former roommate is her husband. The entire series is centered around her body line. The transformation of her body as her pregnancy progressed inspired me. She seemed stronger and more confident than I had seen her before and capturing these images of her as a soon to be a mother felt too important, I was simply compelled to do it.

What inspires you to take pictures?

I have been taking pictures since I was 15 years old and it became almost a part of my daily habit. So honestly I can't come up with a good answer for this because I simply shoot whatever attracts me. Usually I find an idea for a new series from pictures I shot randomly in my daily life, for example, I went on a daily trip to Upstate New York and shot a couple of rolls of films there. And there was a picture of a house which caught my eye that led me going back to the same area and I took more pictures of houses. It eventually became a series called "Deja Vu".

How has corona virus impacted your work for 2020? Did you have any exhibitions coming up this year? 

I live in New York City and like everyone else here am experiencing the changes Covid-19 has brought into our lives. To try to keep myself positive and productive regardless of this situation, I am currently working on several things: my new series that I shot in Bulgaria last year, a photo book about my mother, and also I am experimenting with a new work which is related to this social-distancing situation. I don't have any exhibitions planned at the moment but I expect to be able to have my new work exhibited once the world starts recovering from these new circumstances that we are in.

At Unagilife we provide useful recommendations for those inspired by Japanese aesthetic and lifestyle. What would you recommend to our readers?

Today, Naoshima has become a popular destination for overseas art lovers. For those people I would like to recommend to go explore other art-related places/events in Japan. I grew up in Niigata prefecture which has beautiful nature and is known for rich rice. There is an art event called "Echigo-Tsumari Art Field" （大地の芸術祭）which takes place every three years in the rural Echigo-Tsumari region in Niigata. I happened to visit this event for the first time more than ten years ago while I was visiting my family. What attracted me the most was that there were not only many artists from all over the world participating in the show, but also a lot of locals were involved in the installation process for those foreign artists. I found it fascinating because these locals - especially elderly people - don't usually have an opportunity to interact with people from other countries but through this exhibition they were very involved and were getting close exposure to new cultures. There are many large-scale installations outdoors in the area as well as some indoor artworks scattered around, so the best way to explore them is to have a car and drive around following a map.

See more of Sayuri Ichida’s work on sayuriichida.com