A Willingness To Get Close To Someone

Photographs by Matt Takaichi
Interview via email, December 2014

In what context do you find yourself take your best photos?

I tend to just try to walk up to the first people I see when I get into a city and just go for it. Like, yeah, a photo of some guy walking down the street and doing nothing interesting isn’t going to be used, but it’s a way to work myself into a rhythm.

That’s why I don’t adhere to the purist, film-era produced, ideas of judiciously taking a limited number of frames for a maximum hit rate. I often feel each frame inches towards something special and the ‘rhythm shots’ are preparing me for that moment.

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I realize I’m talking a lot about work-ethic oriented stuff , but it’s a little true. A lot of times I get told I have ‘an eye,’ or something to that extent. It’s a nice sentiment, but I don’t find it totally accurate. A lot of my favorite images were due to the extent taken to position myself for compelling images.