So here is the interview dudes! Read ON!
So to start us off man! can you give us a lil low down on who you are and what you like to do?
My full name is Nano Kato (no time for middle names). I’m 19, Japanese, and study a Bachelors of Photography, majoring in photojournalism. I like to eat chicken nuggets, skateboard when I can, and learn how things work.
Anyone who has met you would know that you are super keen and awesome at taking photos,
what other passtimes/hobbies do you enjoy?
If I’m not out shooting I’m usually find myself just relaxing at home, listen to music, drink wine or hang out with friends and preferably do the same thing. I find a lot of my time by myself I space out and end up doing lots of little weird things here and there, it’s how I ended up making a pinhole camera out of a shoe box, and learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube.
In relation to your photography, what do you like and dislike to shoot the most?
My whole process in photography in the past two years has been very much based on exploring what I can do on a technical and aesthetic level, all whilst experimenting on different mediums. Street shooting and more specifically candids are something I’ve been working on for the past year in my free time with a camera.
At the moment what are you shooting on? gives us a quick low down of your current gear!
Ah man, my stuff has been breaking on me left right and centre! My 135 and 120 cameras are just coming out of repair shops now. For all my projects, I use a combination of my Leica M6, Ricoh GR1V or my Hasselblad 500CM (all analogue!). A few other cameras I have are a Holga K200N, Olympus Trip 35, Pentax ME Super (poor bugger’s broken too), a pinhole and some antique Polaroid camera, just to name a few. Of course there’s the other boring junk like flashes, tripods, bags etc.
What would you say your overall style is? are you from the streets?
It’s hopped around in the 3 years I’ve been shooting, though I got told some of my recent photos had a very ‘Nano’ aesthetic! I can’t really quite describe my style really, every time I shoot I feel as if I’m in a transient space, zone out and have photos plop out the other end.
You used to skate a lot and shoot a lot of skating but recently I have seen less of a skate influence in your work, do you still skate?
Well this runs with my process of experimenting, if I haven’t tried a certain genre of photography, I’ll try it. Conveniently as a skateboarder it was easy to bring a camera, but it’s kinda been there done that sort of thing so I don’t go out looking to shoot skateboarding. I haven’t had many chances to hop on a board for the past couple of months which is a bummer, I’m getting rusty! But whenever I do get the chance I like to have a camera with me and see if any opportunities pop up to shoot. I don’t think I’ll ever give up on skateboarding, it’ll be somewhere in my life one way or another.
Recently you released a mad lil zine i picked up featuring some photos you took in Japan, tell us a lil about it & where can dudes get this!
I went to Japan in December 2012 and travelled around for a week by myself, shot a bunch of photographs and compiled little bodies of work within the book. I cover little bits about the places I went to around Japan. So far people have been diggin’ it so I’m stoked. Anyone interested can grab copies at http://nanokatophoto.bigcartel.com or alternatively message me by email at nanokato.photo@gmail.com to organize other arrangements. They’re $20 and I make zilch profits, just a personal investment to get physical photo goodness out there rather than people scrolling through my snaps on a mobile or in front of a computer monitor.
I enjoyed the shit out of the zine will there be more in the future?
Well I’m going to Peru in June, possibly Europe in November, flying on down to Sydney at some point this year and Cambodia and Laos in January next year. I’ll without a doubt be sporting a couple cameras with me, doing my thing. If I have enough content (and money) to compile couple more rounds of zines then I will certainly be working on something to get out there again!
Top 3 movies?
I’m giving you five because I couldn’t narrow it to three.
Drive (Gosling froth)
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Once Upon a Time in the West
Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (or ‘A Man Escaped’)
The Shawshank Redemption
Is there any artist/s who have/has a great influence on your work we should also check out?
Tricky question, there’s just so many! Well in terms of my street practice I definitely need to mention Henri Cartier-Bresson, Trent Parke and Bruce Gilden; all boss lords are the photography game. All the rad friends I study with influence my work, and a lot of the photography lecturers at uni I look up to as well as they are all established practitioners.
Do you currently have a goal you are pushing towards with you life behind the lens?
Establish myself as a photojournalist and earn enough to live with a roof over my head. See the world, meet people, find places and tell stories of the human condition. I don’t necessarily want to be a jet setter but I want opportunities to find stories with rigor, depth and/or substance. Long road ahead of me, my fingers are crossed.
Current top 3 songs?
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards – Tame Impala
Wake Up – Arcade Fire
Underneath The Sycamore – Death Cab for Cutie
Any shout outs?
Nobody in particular really, I would like to thank all the good people in my life, pushing me further in my photographic interest and keeping me sane. And to all the people who follow and support my work, if I didn’t have the feedback or people to show work, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have now! I only hope it's a mere start of a long journey ahead!
Thanks loads Nano!
Make sure you check out Nano's Online store and get yo self that Zine! HERE!
Yo can also go check out Nano's photography facebook HERE!
Also guys here is an unrelated video or two to squiz!
Winter in Malaga from CHILLAX CLOTHING on Vimeo.
CULTCREW/ Alex Kennedy 03 from Cult Crew on Vimeo.
PEACE!
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