#03 Masanobu Ando / Photographer Actor
Collaboration and close involvement with artists and creators is a special and important time to be creative and sincere. To empathize with their positive pride and mentality, and to listen to their voices. By bringing this to as many people as possible, WIND AND SEA is constantly evolving.
#03 is Masanobu Ando. We asked him about his ideal self, not as an actor, but as a photographer.
Cindy Sherman's style of
acting and filming is
similar to my own feeling.
I was only 20 or 21 years old when I started to become a photographer. I became interested in the photographer side after I had the experience of being photographed by professionals through my appearance in the movie "Kids Return (1996). One day, a photographer invited me to an exhibition of Cindy Sherman's photographs, and I went with him after the interview. That was a turning point for me.
Cindy Sherman's style is to shoot self-portraits with the situation set in stone. I felt that this style of photographing oneself acting out one's own performance was very much in line with my feelings at the time. I also started taking self-portraits at various places, such as a factory in my hometown of Kawasaki. At a film festival, Takeshi Kitano took a look at my work, and I remember him saying to me, "Anyone can press the shutter, but it's the timing and the act of pressing the shutter that counts.
I had many opportunities to meet with various photographers, so I asked them about lighting and other topics, but they all did not give me proper advice, and Tazy (Kazunari Tajima) was the only one who was kind enough to help me. He taught me not only about lighting, but also about the importance of the finishing process and many other non-technical things. He would use examples of advertising photos he had taken and tell me how to add light to a sunken spot. He was the only person I could listen to. He invited me to various sites and introduced me to many people. I am extremely grateful to him.
I appreciate him, but he is a very demanding person, very polite, and a man of great depth of humanity. I was most nervous about having Tazzy look at my photos, so I didn't speak to him during my last exhibit at Bookmark. But on the opening day, he walked right in front of me and surprised me. He looked at my photos very carefully and complimented me on how beautifully they were taken. I really cherished the first ("MARC JACOBS THE FUTURE FLORAL for MARC JACOBS" / 2022) and second ("MARC JACOBS THE FUTURE FLORAL" / 2024) photo exhibitions by Marc Jacobs, and I am very happy with the photos I was able to take. Also, this year I was very happy to see my photos displayed in a big way at the Laforet work and sent out like a campaign.
Think of the distancce
between people with
a single focus lens.
When I am the subject of a photograph, I prefer a photographer who takes a limited number of shots. However, if I were the photographer, I would want to take pictures forever, so my ideal photographer's stance differs depending on my position. Basically, I only take pictures of people I want to take pictures of, so I am already very interested in that person. But in commercials and advertisements, I don't shoot what I want to shoot, so I have to somehow reconcile that with reality. I think it is amazing to have the skill to swallow 100% of the client's wishes and give 100% in return.
I am not very particular about equipment. But I don't want to use lenses smaller than 50mm. I don't like distorted photos. I don't even use a zoom lens, I just use a single focal length lens, and when I shoot live with a 50mm lens, I have to get very close, but sometimes I go up on stage with the photographer. I value the distance between me and the people I photograph.
I've been shooting with film since I was in my twenties, so I don't have a special obsession with using film. I used to develop the film at a friend's house and make prints. But nowadays, there are not many types of negatives available, and developing negatives is expensive, so I think digital is the way to go now. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable when a picture is too much in focus, but in such cases I blur the outlines and retouch the image to finish it.
When I take a picture,
I take it with the desire to
keep on taking pictures.
Recently I have been photographing live shows, but I never thought of doing that in the past. when I went to BAD HOP and JJJ's shows, I felt the incredible energy and saw the good emotions of the audience, and I started to want to photograph them. Then I connected with various artists, and they started inviting me to their shows, and I started taking pictures of them. Live performances are very pleasant, and each day has its own story to tell. You start with a blank slate, the artists arrive, you rehearse, you finish, you go from being nervous before the show, to performing, to finishing, and then the tension is released at the after-party. It's similar to a fashion show, but it's very interesting to follow these changes throughout the day. I want to capture the emotions. I have been reading scripts and acting them out, so I want to tell stories about my emotions. I want to keep filming music, because I think it's really pleasant and wonderful.
I'm in the mood now to be more of a photographer than an actor. I think I really like photography so much that even when I'm taking pictures, I want to keep taking pictures. I'm hungry to take pictures. But I think that's how all professionals feel.
