Michael Yamashita's influence on me as a photographer

Below is a comparison between my photographs and Michael Yamashita's in an attempt to depict the great influence he has had on my photography and stylistic choices. The colored photographs are Yamshita's and the smaller ones that follow are mine. 

Abstracting portraiture through smoke.

Foggy Landscape centering subject matter.

Foggy landscapes, leading lines inwards.

Silhouetted landscapes

Centered, leading eye inwards, balance

Birds leading eye out of frame and back in again

My favorite photograph. 

Balanced, minimalist, centered.

When I took my first dark room photography class in high school, we were given an emulation project. At this point I had never looked into any photographers for influence or guidance. I started looking up well-known photographers and was immediately drawn to National Geographic’s photographer, Michael Yamashita.  He had this one image of two boats, well balanced, in the center of a very still lake. It impacted me and truly made me feel something; however, it wasn’t with the subject matter at all. It was how it was compositionally created. Centering subject matter, I understood, was going against the unspoken rule in photography; however, the boats creating leading lines outwards and within the photograph, making the viewer not feel static or claustrophobic. I was inspired by the power behind Yamashita’s simplicity, and decided that he would be the photographer to emulate.

            I think, to this day, Michael Yamashita’s influence on me as a photographer is apparent. What I idolize him for are his stylistic choices; he utilizes leading lines and typically brings the eye inwards within the photograph; a lot of his compositions are centered; and he does a fascinating job depicting balance within each and every photo. 

            I have found that a lot of the stylistic choices I have made, parallel what I envy from Yamashita’s. Many of his best landscapes, for example, utilize fog and keep the subject matter centered. I have taken several similar landscapes just recently. I always had a tough time finding landscapes that, I felt, would compose a strong photograph; however, recently I have been inspired by foggy days to go out and shoot.  I have also been keeping the figure in the center and creating strong balance.

            Yamashita has also silhouetted his landscapes (something I just recently explored). I have been playing with silhouetting figures and landscapes; a more minimalist approach. Like Yamashita, I have also been trying to engage the viewer through leading lines inwards.  It is apparent in some of my recent work from this semester.

            Michael Yamashita also does portraiture and it is some of the best I have ever seen. They are raw and revealing and he does a phenomenal job humanizing his subject matter. A couple years ago I did a series on homeless people that were about humanizing the character, revealing the personality, and evoking empathy in my audience. I engaged with the people I shot. I learned their names, conversed with them, and shared a cigarette over chit-chat. This interaction is apparent throughout the series and Michael Yamashita’s depict a similar closeness when he shoots portraiture.

            I think my most recent series best reflects my subconscious influence from Michael Yamashita’s work. I have never intentionally “mimicked” or even thought of his work when shooting; however, that first image of the two balanced boats stuck, and sparked my journey towards my own voice.