Meet Kana Motojima | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kana Motojima and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kana, what inspires you?
Not to sound overly cheesy but everything and everyone surrounding me is my inspiration.

Wherever I lived, the surrounding people were and are always my inspiration. The spontaneous moments I have with the people I love are always an inspiration.

I also am inspired by many forms of art. But I mostly watch many films that really help me grow as an artist constantly.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My strength as a photographer is that I know I am in a collaborative space when I photograph. I strive to make a comfortable environment when I create. To take a picture can be so intrusive at times, and that is something I want to change in the photo industry.

I think it is very important that everyone feels cozy to get the perfect image. I want to be comfortable with the space before I photograph. If portraiture, I want the subject as well as myself to feel comfortable with each other. When I photograph I think of it as a chance to get to know a person or place.

I do think it was not the easiest journey and I still have a lot more ahead of me. But I think what made it go by so quickly in the best way was the fact that this career is my passion and all I really want to do. No matter how long I continue this path I would always want to stay humble as well as share the opportunities and any information I get as well because that is what the friends and mentors around me did for me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would love to take my best friend to every place I would go when I have a day off or some spare time. It is really hard to choose where to go but I will do my best. The first day I will love to just catch up and stick with a very chill schedule. We’ll start the day heading into manhattan and grab some coffee at Bungee Space. We can sip coffee, catch up and look through artbooks. We’ll continue the day just walking around, and I will probably end up taking them to Dashwood to look at photobook. For lunch I will take them to Bahn Mi Co Ut for something light and eat in the park. I would course our walk so we eventually end up in the east village where we can go eat at Raku, get boba at YiFang Taiwan Fruit Tea and go to Sing Sing St Marks for Karaoke.

The next few days if it all fits in the schedule would love to take them to Flushing to eat really good food all day. Go to Moma PS1, and any other museum or gallery with an exhibition we would both be interested in. Go to Metrograph or IFC Theatre to just geek out to movies. Many more restaurants to go to; Spicy Moon, Tonchin, While in Kathmandu, the Seneca, Bunna Cafe and many more!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would thank my friends and family, as well as the many people who have helped me along my career. When I decided to start photography seriously I decided to go to school for it in Japan. That is where I met a lot of my friends and was actually able to start my career while in school.

I also continued my education at ICP for a year. There I was able to meet a lot of friends and teachers in the industry that shared with me a lot of knowledge as well as opportunities that led me to where I am today.

Website: https://www.kanamotojima.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanamotojima/

Image Credits
Image 1 – models: Lilian (left), Sahara (right) Image 2 – model: Haley Image 3 – models: Sahara (left), Lilian (right) Image 4 – Location: Bockerway (hair salon) Image 5 – model: Tesshun Image 6 – model: Haori Takahashi Image 7 – model: Bohan Pheonix Image 8 – model: Morgan