The Picture Looks Back
Kyoto and New York City
Every subject returns the camera’s gaze, turning scrutiny back on the viewer and questioning how we judge vulnerability, privacy, dignity and agency.
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These galleries feature photos from my archive that were made in Japan. The images engage with themes of cultural identity, social dynamics, natural and urban environments, and explore the relationship between individuals and their surroundings.
1. Japan-focused studies
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Miyagawacho in Passing
A close street study of maiko, geiko and everyday movement through Miyagawacho, one of Kyoto’s working hanamachi districts.
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Tokyo After Dark
Tokyo night photography exploring intimacy, labor, performance and anonymity across the city’s after-dark districts.
2. Multi-location studies featuring Japan
Pairs: Repetition and Différance
Melbourne, New York City, and Tokyo
A photographic sequence exploring how repetition, relation and différance produce meaning between images.
The Father
Melbourne, New York City, and Tokyo
A photographic study of how fatherhood becomes visible in public through carrying, protection, resemblance, discipline and control.
Nailshop
Melbourne, New York City, Phnom Penh, Sydney, and Tokyo
Fingernails as bodily edges where grooming, self-fashioning and social judgment meet.
Hair
Melbourne, New York City, Phnom Penh, and Tokyo
Hair explored as a site where personal identity intersects with public space.
Act Your Age
Melbourne, New York City, and Tokyo
When age stops looking the way we expect, the photograph catches us deciding what the difference means.
Floral Footpath
Kyoto, Melbourne, and New York City
Flowers as cultural messengers and moving gestures through the city.
Walking Wounded
New York City and Tokyo
Frailty, resilience, and the complex emotions triggered by witnessing trauma in public spaces.