[Japanese Photographer No. 3] 40-year-old "Girl" Ume Kayo captures humorous moments in daily life

Delicacy and emotion are unique features of many female photographers. Looking at Rinko Kawauchi's photos, I feel calm and poetic; while the pictures under Umekayo's lens are simple and interesting moments.

In 1981, Ume Kayo was born in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from high school, he went to Osaka to study at the Japanese Photo and Video College. She often shoots with CANON EOS 5 camera and 50mm lens, plus Fuji ISO 400 film and P mode, which are the characteristics of her photography. Why only shoot in P mode? Mei Jiayo bluntly said that she was afraid that the pictures she wanted to capture would disappear due to the failure of the manual mode. The purpose of her choice of photography is even more funny, because she thinks that being a photographer has a better chance of marrying celebrities such as Hidetoshi Nakata or Ichiro Suzuki.

Whether this statement is true or not, it cannot erase her achievements in photography. In 2000 and 2001, Mei Jiayo won the "Canon Photo New Century Award" twice. In 2003, at the age of 22, she held a solo exhibition in Tokyo. In 2006, her photo album "Ume-me" sold more than 100,000 This book became widely known and won the 32nd "Kimura Ihei Photo Award". The following year, "Danshi", which filmed a group of young boys with warm and humorous moments, further established her approachable style.

Looking at Mei Jiadai’s photos, they are simple and natural, without special lighting, and without any deliberate arrangements. I feel that every photo is taken at will, such as elementary school students, passers-by, her grandfather, cats and dogs on the side of the road...these The mundane images of everyday life are her subjects. What makes her works attractive is not the unique composition, nor the spectacular scenes, but the simple and direct feeling, and the humorous moments captured in daily life. For Mei Jiayo, shooting is a kind of happiness, so whenever she sees an interesting picture, she will quickly press the shutter.

She said that the distance between the subject and herself is very important, so she does not like to use long focal length and zoom lenses, just like the little boy in her works, with a natural and interesting expression, without any sense of distance at all, and this approachable style, It is her biggest feature, it can be said that people are as they are. Mei Jiadai is in her 40s this year. Some people think that a 40-year-old woman is a middle-aged woman, but Mei Jiadai has a girlish heart, which can be seen in her photos.

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·More photos of Kayo Ume: https://www.pocko.com/kayo-ume/