I don't know what would've happened if I did not have photography
I really don't
Because I had such trouble, sort of, expressing myself
in any other, like, conventional way
Creating images really saved me and helped tell the story
that was really going on internally
I have always been so obsessed
with movies and film
and photography was sort of the closest thing to that
And I guess as a young girl
with no resources, taking photos was a lot easier
And I became obsessed with it
It was something that like...
Art for me has always been a way of survival
but also a way of play
That's how my sister and I played when we were young was
to make plays or ballets or paint or whatever
So it was just an extension of that
Like that's literally what I just did on my free time
I found photography because I couldn't dance
and dance was something that
I thought I was going to do for the rest of my life
and thought the way of storytelling in the form of like your body
was so beautiful for me
Taking a photo is like choreographing
As much as it is about choreographing others
it's about moving my own body
and the way that I move and how will my subjects react to that
The shoot I did in Japan
for Hanatsubaki was so fun
because I was literally running around
with these girls
and I got these beautiful photos of them
They were so...
I don't know
There aren't words
Fashion photography is such a fun extension of my work frame
I, basically, just... I got to kind of explore
and do whatever and create these stories
and these faces... that sort of like never existed
And I mean it doesn't stray from my work at all
It sort of just more exaggerated version of my work
Growing up in the early 2000s was so crazy
Honestly, I feel like it was the most
wildly, sexualized...
f... era
I really grew up believing that my appearance
and me as an object
was what was important
It's just such a crazy space to live in
We're like, "You are the thing
that is sex, but you are not allowed
to want it or receive pleasure"
Because I was exploring my sexuality
and I was seeing what turned me on
or what I found attractive
but I also wanted to...
I was also so angry
So, I wanted to make images
that were sexy and uncomfortable
and violent and sort of all these things in one
Photography for me has been my saver and, I guess, my therapy
I grew up with a lot of anxiety from very young age
There are a lot things going on in my life that were not specifically things
that, I guess, normal teenagers
go through and experience
So from very young age
I was kind of an adult
It makes everyone feel better
when they can see themselves in something
Basically, the best part of what I do
is hearing other girls' stories
and women's stories too
It moves me that my images can move people
and it's the most important thing to me
The fact that I can make someone's life a little better
a little more interesting
feel, like, they have
a little more agency, a little more power
It's like...
...the most important thing