motoko fujita's photostream

MOTOKO FUJITA and her camera are both “made in Japan”. She started taking photographs to record stray dogs she found roaming about the city streets of Fukoaka in Japan. Since then she has consistently challenged herself in all areas of photography: from portrait to landscape, from press to abstract art. From early in 2003 she has been based in Dublin, working mainly as a music photographer. In Dublin, she has photographed inter alia The Orb, Andy Rourke (of The Smiths), Mani (of Primal Scream), Youth, and Alfie, alongside a host of Irish bands. She personally directs at each such shoot location to coordinate and individuate her unique photographs so as best to reflect the images that the band’s music most typically conjures up in the listener’s mind.

Whilst still at Baiko Gakuin University (MA), Shimonoseki City, Japan, Motoko studied the Irish author James Joyce. Upon moving to Ireland she was attracted to the quaint, old-world, picturesque look of Chapelizod and quickly began to capture images of the village; these and others have led directly to her work The Shadow of James Joyce.

Motoko has appeared on Nippon Hoso Kabushikigaisya NHK (the national television station in Japan) in a news-feature about her work as a photographic artist. She has also given lectures in two universities in her hometown, Shimonoseki City, discussing and describing her life as a creative photographer.

Motoko is the chair-person of the Japanese Cultural Club (JCC) in Chapelizod and has been active in introducing Chapelizod village, and Ireland, to Japanese persons. Though her work with the JCC, she conceived and realised the first “Japanese Day” at the Phoenix Park in Dublin in April 2010, an event that was attended by more than 20,000 visitors.
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Simply, uniquely, aesthetically, and enthusiastically, Motoko seeks relentlessly to capture images – instaurations of what she perceives – that she hopes, when framed and frozen, will intrigue the viewer to the same extent as she is intrigued.

MOTOKOそのものと、使用のカメラはどちらも日本製。福岡在住時代に、野良犬を記録するためにカメラを持ち出して以来、人物、風景、広報から抽象まで、出くわす被写体の面白さ全てに挑戦。２００３年、ダブリンに漂着してからは、主にミュージック・フォトグラファーとして活動。THE ORB, ANDY ROUKE(THE SMITHS), MANI(PRIMAL SCREAM),YOUTH, ALFIE その他、地元のアイリッシュバンドなど、ダブリンのロックンロール・シーンに吸着。バンドのイメージショットは全て、自らの徘徊趣味を活かしたロケーションで発見した穴場を舞台に、それぞれのバンドの音楽性を、視覚的ユニークさで表現できるようにすることを目指している。自身のサイトは現在建設中だが、作品の一部はここで見られる。
梅光学院大学（下関市）で、ジョイスに出会って以来、偶然にゆかりの地チャペリゾッドに根を下ろしたことが、今回の企画『ジェイムズ・ジョイスの影』出版に繋がる。
　２０１０年夏に、NHKの「関門だより」で紹介され、故郷を案内する。また下関市立大学と梅光学院大学での講演で、その活動を紹介。
　ジャパニーズ・カルチャークラブを主宰し、継承語教育を中心とした文化活動を促す。ダブリンではじめてのジャパニーズ・デイを企画し、２万人以上の観衆を集める。
　シンプルに、ユニークさと熱意でもって、被写体の最も美しく、ドラマチックで、カリスマ的な瞬間を捉えることを求めてやまない。写真について、百聞は一見にしかず、また、目は口ほどにものを言う。これ以上語るのはやめて、まずはご覧ください。