— Tell us about the area you live in.
I live in the mountainous area of Shizuoka City, where the time passes slowly, and in the springtime, beautiful cherry blossoms stretch for hundreds of meters down the street out front. We get around mainly by car in Shizuoka, so I can choose to live wherever I like without worrying about access to public transportation. This was my first time living in the mountainous area, but with the expressway nearby, it’s actually convenient for long-distance travel. I quite like it.
— We hear you were born and raised in Yaizu. What was it like there?
Yaizu is sandwiched between the mountain and the sea. My family lived right across the street from the beach and a short 30-minute drive to the slopes. When I was little, I took it for granted that we knew so many fishermen and always seemed to have whitebait and sakura shrimp in the fridge. Only after I was older did I actually realize fishing was a major industry of Yaizu. Since I grew up by the bay, I still get a boost of energy whenever I hang out at the beach.Lately, I visit Yaizu increasingly frequently for my nephew’s baseball practice, and because I used to be a baseball kid myself, each visit is getting me to feel a stronger attachment to my home city.
— As you go about your daily life, what do you feel is special about Shizuoka?
I’d have to say the short distance to the mountain and the sea. To say the lush nature would be too simplistic. The beauty lies in the sense of closeness—both the mountain and the sea are so effortlessly within reach. Considering how tempting it might be to settle for the digital experience today, it helps to know, if only in the subconscious, that the real thing is right around the corner.
Also, from a different point of view, I tend to use driftage in my in my recent exhibitions, so that’s another reason to be grateful for the proximity of the beach.
— Tell us about your work and your life at home.
I work mainly in product and architectural photography. For me, there’s no real boundary between my work and life at home. My work involves a lot of editing, and I do that at home, so I try to maintain a comfortable view in my living space. I like setting time aside to admire the objects I love and clear my mind. The most important thing for me, in both my photographs and my living space, is a sense of balance. Whether an object or a situation, I coexist and interact with it, and keep balance, or try to at any rate, and along the way, explore it and discover something new—that’s my favorite moment. I show one or two exhibitions a year, and they’re not so much photo exhibitions but presentations of a space with photographs, where I bring a whole encapsulation of all sorts of senses of balance. I enjoy building mutually good relationships with my work and life at home.
— What kind of pictures do you take outside work?
I try not to tweak the object or the situation too much. Instead, I strive to capture what is there, as is, from the position of the photographer who just happens to be present. In theory, that’s the most natural state. The more I attempt to finetune, the more something will end up feeling out of place. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to achieve this state of naturalness, mind you. Once I had set my mind on following this style, I’ve found that I shoot much less frequently and take much fewer pictures, but that’s okay too. Sometimes I like to work under artistic constraints, but only for the purpose of training. I need to try out the opposite style to maintain a balance, you know. I feel that’s important for my career ahead—observing a sense of distance with my photographs.
— What is your next area of interest, or what would you like to try in the future?
I hope to continue taking pictures as a medium of communication, and to this end, I’d like to set up a home studio-type of space for creation. A community is as attractive as the people in it—I’ve had this belief since my twenties and consistently striven to be a curiously attractive person myself. What could be more enriching than a community of curiously attractive people inspiring and exchanging positive stimulation with one another?
Shinya Rachi
Shinya Rachi was born in 1986 in Shizuoka. He focuses on collecting images of objects and situations that are trying to keep balance or that are being kept in balance. He took up photography around 2009, and having continued to take picture after picture, has been on the verge of a successful career ever since.
www.rachishinya.com
