© Ryuichi Ishikawa
I first met Okinawan photographer Ryuichi Ishikawa at the 2011 Higashikawa Photo Festival 1. Many of the portfolio reviews in Higashikawa are done in a semi-public fashion, so I could watch as he filled an entire table with prints of his color portraits—while still keeping an immense stack in reserve. At the time, Ishikawa’s photographs seemed competent, and certainly showed plenty of energy, as it seemed like he’d photographed every person he’d ever come across. That actually might have been the case, because he uses a Hasselblad with a digital back (an investment which caused his reviewer a small shock).
It’s generally not that fruitful to discuss cameras up front, but in Ishikawa’s case I think it’s worth mentioning, because his newer work shows a significant improvement. On the one hand, he’s gotten better technically, avoiding the 6×6 format trap of always having the subject in the middle of the frame. More importantly, though, it seems like he’s gone a bit deeper in finding his subjects. In each case, the ability to literally shoot for free can only have helped his development. Ishikawa was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2012 Canon New Cosmos of Photography.
This brings back memories! I was at the same table looking in amazement as he covered that table with prints. I think the new stuff here is incredible given what was shown a year ago.
It’s interesting, too, what you say about equipment: if I remember right, the two reviewers kept asking everyone what camera they shot with, and I kept wondering, “Who cares? what about the pictures?”