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This is my shop. It's called the Strange Store.
I sell stuff that I personally like.
Vintage clothes, T-shirts that I designed and other bits and pieces.
I guess it's like a specialty store.
I'm a photographer. I mainly take pictures of friends and acquaintances.
In principle, I only shoot what I'm interested in.
But if I'm interested, I'd even go up to a complete stranger.
And eventually, we'd end up becoming friends.
[HOW THEY MET]
Daifu came to the shop one day. I knew about him and liked his photos.
And you knew about me too.
You introduced yourself and I was like, "You're THAT Daifu?"
We hit it off instantly.
- And then we did a show.
Right, I asked him to put on a show, and he said "Sure, if it's a collaboration with you".
So he put up photos of his family and he asked me to draw something on top.
- Yeah, that's how it started.
[COLLABORATION FOR VICE]
From PHOTO ISSUE Japan 2013
- I emailed you about the VICE project,
- and asked if you'd like to collaborate with me.
Yeah, you texted me.
It sounded fun, so I agreed to do it.
You actually asked me to be the model because you couldn't find anyone.
- Yeah that's right.
You said that I should be the model and style myself.
That made the idea even more interesting in my mind.
- What's funny is that we've put my mom's face on a male body.
Yeah, a female body would have been boring.
- Right, so the idea made total sense.
- I emailed you three ideas I had. The mask photo...
- A woman on a tricycle... is that it? - And the buggy photo.
Then I prepared the clothes.
- Then we each came up with our own ideas.
- Then on the day, boom! - It's the best way.
You never told me to find a dress that your mom would typically wear.
If you'd given me instructions about styling,
I wouldn't have been able to come up with creative ideas.
But you just showed me the mask
and told me to find clothes. That was it!
Crazy, but I loved the challenge.
- That see-through dress was shocking.
The rain coat?
But I wanted something more, so I used the popsicle wrappers.
Right here.
They were pear-flavored. Perfect for the summer.
But then they said the magazine had been moved to November.
My only regret is that I should've used a different flavor.
- It's hard to describe the feeling of that shoot.
- It was so spontaneous. - And it was a one-off thing too.
Isn't that the best though?
- The picture might not make sense to others.
- But it doesn't matter. As long as we're proud of it.
[WHY A MASK OF YOUR MOTHER?]
I happened to take a funny photo of my mom's face.
It was a close-up, so I came up with the idea of turning it into a mask.
That way, anyone can turn into my mom doing her facial mask treatment.
Shooting a photo of the mask made it look even weirder.
It's real, but also surreal.
- It's your mom. You must've enjoyed it the most.
- Think about it. You're shooting a friend...
- in your mom's mask.
Actually, first I made a mask using my face.
I wanted to take a "self-portrait". That's how I got interested in masks.
- I used a female model. - Baring her breast.
That was my first photo featuring a mask.
Then when VICE approached me, I thought of using mom's mask.
My mom was actually a key theme in this collaboration.
I don't know why, but the first idea that came up was of my mom being homeless.
- Your mom? - Yeah, mom being homeless in the future.
So I named the photo...
"Future Mom" in English.
What I meant was "my mom in the future."
- But it actually meant something else! - What was it again?
"Due to be a mom."
- So a pregnant person.
Yeah, so "future mom" means a pregnant woman.
- Great title though.
Funnily, in the photo, you'd...
- I'd stuffed my belly with clothes.
And there was the buggy. Isn't that amazing?
- We created magic by being spontaneous.
- You can't "think" up that idea.
Maybe I like pregnant women.
I once dated a girl who was pregnant.
I never gave it much thought. We broke up 6 months later.
I think it made me realize how amazing pregnant women are.
They have this aura about them.
- Yeah, a baby just pops out.
I feel like they're doing something incredible.
Like they're exuding this energy.
- From the woman, right?
- You must really love your mom.
[MOTOYUKI DAIFU'S MOTHER]
I do shoot my mom a lot.
People say her face looks different depending on the photo.
- I agree. I almost feel like they're all different people!
She has this strange ability to do that.
- She's your muse.
Our photo feels very "fashion" because of my mom,
but also has this crazy ghetto feel.
It's an awesome combination.
- The high fashion feel... - And the ghetto-ness.
Like, she eats rice raw.
When I saw my photos alongside her text,
I worried that I might get overshadowed.
You came in for the kill.
I was amazed by how our collaboration turned out.
I was amazed by how our collaboration turned out.
I mean, we're the ones who made this, but...
I mean, we're the ones who made this, but...
The great thing about my style is
even if my portraits don't look anything like the person, I can get away with it.
even if my portraits don't look anything like the person, I can get away with it.
- I see...
I essentially want to show us together.
Like we're lesbian sisters or something.
Like we're lesbian sisters or something.
Your drawings are so powerful.
I didn't think we'd get so...
so deep into this.
When I see a pregnant woman
I feel like they're doing something incredible.
I feel like they're doing something incredible.
- It must be that you love your mom.
My favorite animal is the hippo.
I think about that circus hippo made to open its mouth three times a day,
I think about that circus hippo made to open its mouth three times a day,
and I feel such love for it.