1.Since your biographical data appears in Japanese on your website, it is impossible for us to understand. Could you write to us in a few lines the life story of Sato Shintaro so far?

SATO Shintaro. Born in 1969 in Tokyo.  Graduated from Tokyo College of Photography in 1992 and Waseda University School of Letters Arts and Sciences in 1995. Worked as a staff cameraman for Kyodo News for 7 years. Left Kyodo News in 2002.Present: Freelance photographer.



2.What gave you the impulse to start with photography?

When I was a high school student, I thought photographers could make money traveling around the world. I am taking pictures in Japan, though.

 
3.While the majority of photographers today are engaged in documentary photography with catchy themes (sexuality, violence etc), your projects always focused on street and lights photography. Where does your interest in these themes come from?

I am fascinated by the power of unconsciousness of town when looking down from a little higher point. The town is constructed by necessity in fact, not for the purpose of beauty, but I find it transforms beautiful shape and rhythm of which we are not aware when on the ground. I see colors in twilight, that are mixture of artificial light and natural light, emphasize the beauty of town.

 

4.  You seem to be particularly interested in architecture and light, and you always manage to draw people away from your photographs of crowded cities and streets. You seem not to be interested in depicting human presence. Why?

I think the world in front of me turns into unreal world if drawing people away from my photographs.

 
5.  Can you write to us about your project Twilight Zone? Where were the pictures taken? How did you manage to get such panoramic pictures? How do you find your locations? Are they building terraces? How do you get permission to have access to them? Do you work the whole night?

Pictures were taken by a large format camera (4×5-inch) at the area of mixture of residential compound with commercial neighborhood in Tokyo. I take pictures from emergency staircase of office buildings or apartment houses. Photographs are made not from the top of the buildings, but from the halfway height such as on the 14th floor degree from the 10th floor. I find the places by location hunting in the daytime. I don’t get permission to go up the emergency staircases. I work in twilight. The beautiful time that artificial light and natural light are mixed is very short. That is about only 15 minutes. So, I can take only 3 or 4 shoots a day.

6. Any interesting memory or event of any of Twilight Zone shooting?

Well, I was almost arrested when I went up the roof of apartment house to find good place without permission.

7. Your technique: How do you usually work (with digital camera or with an analogical one?). Do you "manipulate digitally" the result?

The most important thing to tell you is that I make my photographs with a large format camera (4×5-inch) by color negative film.　Exposure time is from 2 to 8 minutes.  I print color photographs by myself.  It takes more than one day for me to finish printing. I do not manipulate digitally the result at all. It is interesting that finished analog works appear to be digitally made.



8. Are you going to participate in exhibitions with your project Twilight Zone?

Solo exhibition “Twilight Zone” was held in 2005 at Photo Gallery International in Tokyo. I hope to have exhibitions 2 or 3 years later in Japan and possibly in foreign countries.



9. What is your future plan: work in the same line and photograph cities all around the world or do something completely different?

 “Twilight Zone” is taken mainly in fall and winter. The atmosphere is clear enough to take photographs during that season. I must choose a fine day.  Because condition for shooting is limited and Tokyo is indeed large to take photographs, I would like to continue to work in the same line for a while.  I want to make photographs that only a Japanese who is living in Japan can produce, and I do not have any plan to take photographs abroad.



10. Which photographers have inspired in your work (Japanese and non Japanese)?

There is no photographer affected about this series.  My favorite photographer is Andreas Gursky, Bruce Davidson, Emmet Gowin and Japanese photographer KANEMURA Osamu.



11. Apart from photography what other fields of art interest you?

I am interested in Japanese animation. I feel a common point in scenery of
OSHII Mamoru（GHOST IN THE SHELL、INNNOCENCE）OTOMO Katsuhiro（AKIRA）.  And I like sharp Ukiyoe prints of UTAGAWA Hiroshige.

12. How are things with photography in Japan today? Are there interesting projects? What is the esthetic line and aspirations of Japanese photography these days?

A while back photographs that capture the personal daily life were popular. Recently people are tend to express practical images consist of large quantities of pictures by digital camera.

13. Do you make a living exclusively from photography? Do you take
commercial works too?

I, as a freelance photographer, do commercial works such as architecture photographs as well as editorial photographs.



14. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I guess I continue to take photographs of changing cities in Japan.



15. How would you describe your work in a few words?

The beauty in chaos.