The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Wednesday August 13th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Wednesday August 13th — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Wednesday August 13th — —

Yuriko Takagi by The Selby

We really like this series by the always inspiring Todd Selby in which he portrays the beautiful Tokyo studio of the visionary Japanese photographer and fashion designer Yuriko Takagi. In signature Selby-style every little detail that is worth seeing is highlighted in the recognizable colorful photographs of the light studio of Takagi. The Tokyo-based is best known for her studies of the human body and ethnic elements used in in fashion photography combines earthly Japanese serenity with folkloristic souvenirs from all her worldwide travels, from dolls and masks to a rather large collection of garments. And even her history as a fashion designer is still reflected by the Singer sewing machine which seems to not get a whole lot of action anymore though. Yet another highly inspiring photographic story by The Selby.

Mankind in all its facets interests me. Clothes are the symbols of our identity. They tell our history, belonging, nuance. With globalization, we wear less and less traditional garments, but nudity brings us back to our roots, our intrinsic fragility.

Yuriko Takagi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1951. She studied graphic design at the University of Musashino and fashion design at the Polytechnic School of Trent in England. After having worked as an independent designer in Europe, Takagi shifted her focus towards photography, motivated by her travels through Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. Her oftenly abstract photographic work focuses mainly on human existence, with her unique perspective on both the body and its environment as the role it plays (with)in fashion. Her work has been published in online and printed media, several books have been released with her work; with our favorite being the inspirational book portraying her travels and accompanying photographs with locals dressed in garments of Japanese designer Issey Miyake named ‘PLEATS PLEASE Issey Miyake.’ Her work is also part of prestigious collections such as those of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and the Shanghai Art Museum.

Make sure to follow The Selby and his photographic travels here.

For more information on Yuriko Takagi see here.