I had great talk with Naoto today for lunch. We went to Tsubame grill in Shin-Yokohama and we talked (as usual) about cameras and photography.
Naoto is the man behind Zero Stage nickname in Flickr. I saw his previous photos in Eroguranmasse exhibition in Yokohama last summer and I was impressed.
He says he can’t draw and has no artistic drive. His photos, however, tell a different story. He frames his nudes strongly but exquisitely, his camera painting beautiful images that do excellent justice for the organic curves of female body.
Obviously his deep understanding of monochrome and film photography in general must have something to do with the excellent result. But I would say that it’s his artistic talent which drives him to capture female beauty in such passionate and beautiful way.
My personal favorite of his work would be the nude woman in empty bath tub. The light is soft like afternoon light, and the model has relaxed but expecting look. She is both proud and fragile. This is just one of his works that have this sensitive erotic appeal to them.
Naoto’s eyes shines when he talks about film. He said that he wasn’t so interested about photography when he used digital camera. He said only after he started using film, he got really interested in photos.
I am really looking forward to see his incoming exhibition later this month. In the meanwhile, thank you Naoto-san for borrowing me your Leica M6.
(We both ended up in cover of March edition of Yokohama Seasider. Oh, we lucky handsome gentlemen!)
