Biography

Izumi Miyazaki is an 18 year old Japanese photographer who has a large Tumblr presence. She grew up as an only child and let her imagination roam free, which is evident in her work. No one else in her family takes photos but she said when she picked up a camera as a teenager it felt natural. She graduated from Tokyo's Musashino Art University. She said Japanese culture encourages creativity and Western influences shaped her work. Miyazaki states that Japanese culture seems to want to place people in boxes, which she never liked growing up. With her newfound popularity and success she can be seen holding exhibits around the world. She says she hopes to just see where the future takes her because she is along for the ride.

Motivation

Izumi Miyazaki looks cinema so her photos often look like they could be movie stills. She says she has so specific thing she wants viewers to take away from her photography other than to look at them with an open mind. The weird images she create evoke a sense of mystery and capture the eye, causing viewers to look at a single image for several minutes. She does not believe her images capture her personality even though they are self portraits. Her main goal is just to produce new, weird, thought-provoking art.

Techniques

She gets inspiration from social media and things that surprise her. Miyazaki carefully thinks of composition and everyday life when setting up scenes for her photos. She uses lighting and photoshop very specifically to produce the final product she has in mind. She feels very strongly about just working in the moment and going with what your gut is.

Images

explanation of work

Izumi Miyazaki's photos are minimalistic for the most part but since they use such striking images, there seems to be a lot going on. She uses bright lighting and balance very well. The colors have childish connotations but the scenes she creates have adult features. This contradicting message is interesting.