by Yvette Depaepe
Published the 17^th of March 2025

The wonderful world of Lily Photography  is stunning and amazing. His portraits are not just portraits. They tell us about recognisable situation, feelings and emotions. Lily loves colours and flat, symmetrical expressions like we see in the films of Wes Anderson. He combines these with surrealistic works, often photographed by himself, to create his own unique world. Join me to learn more about Lily and why his photography has become a treasure that enriches his life.

Dear friend, first I would like to thank you so much for taking the time to answer this questionnaire!
To begin, please tell us when and how your photographic journey started.

Around 2010, my job changed and I became involved in camera-related work, which sparked my interest in photography and led me to buy a reflex camera. At first, I mainly took private photos with a zoom lens from a lens kit, taking pictures of scenery, food and family on trips and sharing them with family and friends on social networking sites. I was impressed by how easy it was for an amateur like me to take beautiful photos, which I had previously done with compact digital cameras and mobile phones with cameras, and that is what got me into photography. A short time later, I was fascinated by the beautiful bokeh of a single focal length lens, so I bought a Carl Zeiss 85mm Planar single focal length lens and started taking simple bust-up portraits of female models at photo sessions, which is how I got into portrait photography. 

'Love over 1000 years, now...'

For many of us, photography is either a hobby or a way of life. How would you define your relationship to photography?
Fortunately, I am still involved in camera-related work and enjoy the time I have to spend with photography, both publicly and privately. I won't go into detail about my work here, but since I started making portraits in my private life, photography has become a part of my self-expression, and I have been able to connect with photographers and enthusiasts in Japan and abroad that I would never have met if I hadn't started photography through social networking and photo posting sites. As I think about my answer to this question, I realise once again that photography has become a treasure that enriches my life.

'Drive me home!'

'THE BORDER'

What would you say is the most important experience that has influenced your steps in photography?
I think the first photo exhibition I participated in was in 2021.

'Florio'

Until then, I had only been able to engage in low-productivity photographic activities, mass-producing photos that had no development potential, just for the fun of taking them. Even then, I would occasionally post a photo on a social networking site and get a "like". I had felt a sense of stagnation for a long time because of the global pandemic, which deprived me of hobbies that I used to enjoy with my family, such as travelling and eating gourmet food. For me, photography was the one hobby that I was able to continue under such circumstances. While idly browsing social networking sites looking for something new to do with photography, I came across an article calling for entries to a photo exhibition, which I had been interested in but had avoided due to the many unknowns such as printing, framing and display methods. This was the beginning of my current creative activities as LILY PHOTOGRAPHY.

Describe your overall photographic vision.
I don't have a grand vision for my work, so it's hard to give a straight answer when asked this question, but I'm always thinking about how to express my favourite world view in a beautiful, enjoyable and efficient way within a limited time, environment, subject and budget. How can I express my favourite world view in a beautiful, enjoyable and efficient way within a limited time, environment, theme and budget? And how can we make the viewers of our work realise that our work is a unique expression of LILY PHOTOGRAPHY? I always keep this in mind when photographing, retouching, titling and exhibiting my work. I enjoy this process of worrying because I think it is one of the pleasures of creation.

'So that I would not be unable to fall in love'

'Look at the world inside out'

What do you think are the main characteristics of a successful portrait photographer?
For example, if your work is to be entered in a photo exhibition or competition, you must have the ability to digest a given subject and express it as your own world view, and you must also have the ability to create an originality and atmosphere that stands out from other works. If your work is limited to your own world view and does not fit into the world trend, or if your work is not playful, it is just self-gratification. That is why I think that you are a person who maintains your own worldview, but at the same time maintains a good balance of a kind of sociability that allows you to entertain viewers and express yourself in an exquisite way that is both surprising and empathetic.

'In my usual seat, as usual.'

Many are of the opinion that the gear is not very important when the passion for photography is strong. However, can you please share with us what gear you use (camera, lenses, lighting, tripod, etc.)?

I use a Sony A7RV as my main camera and an A9 as a sub-machine.

I mainly use Sony SEL35F28Z and SEL55F18Z lenses, and depending on the size of the shooting location and the main image I want to capture (more pull or more close-up), I attach each to the main/sub camera. Also, I always attach KANI FILTER's Black Mist No. 2 to both lenses to express the blurring of light when strong light enters the angle of view and the smoothness of the female subject's skin. Incidentally, these filters were given to me as extra prizes when I won prizes at photo exhibitions and competitions.
I use a strobe on rare occasions, but basically I use only natural light. When I use a strobe, I sometimes mount the Profoto A1X on a light stand and attach a octagonal diffuser or umbrella, or I attach a color filter directly to the camera and shine it directly on the subject.

'&'

'sleeping everywhere'

The mood and composition in your fine art and conceptual portraits are outstanding! What is your secret and why are you so drawn to this type of photography? Where do you find inspiration for the visual stories you want to tell? What inspires you?

I am very honoured that you think so. To answer these two questions together, I would say that I am influenced by various works of art, video works, advertising works, etc.
I was interested in fashion before I started photographing. For example, Hedi Slimane's black and white ads, Theo Wenner's Chloe ads from around 2016, which evoke a sense of freedom and liberation, Petra Collins' Kitsch, Nard and Happy ads for GUCCI, etc. show my favourite world view and continue to inspire my creative work.

'The world is a mess like a ____!'

'Lifeboat'

I was also shocked when I saw with my own eyes Paul Delaroche's last work "La jeune martyre" at the Louvre Museum, which I use as the header image of my SNS account, and I have been fascinated by the dark and tragic atmosphere of the work ever since. I feel that the dark and tragic atmosphere of the dead body of a young woman, with its indescribable beauty expressed in light and shadow, is one of my goals in my deepest psyche when I take photographs or retouch them.
These ephemeral expressions have been used in Japan since ancient times. I learned about the rise and fall and impermanence of the world in ancient Japanese stories and poems when I was a student, and the expressions of death in Evangelion, one of Japan's most famous animated films, and the lyrics of Japan's leading singer-songwriters, Ringo Sheena and Hikaru Utada, which reflect their world views, also guide me in the world I create.

'Undulating Light'

Who are your favourite photographers or mentors whose work has influenced you and your photography?
I don't have a mentor, but the photographers mentioned in the answer to the previous question have inspired me a lot, and although I'm not a photographer, I like the colours and the flat, symmetrical expression of the films of Wes Anderson, a film director. I combine them with surrealistic works, which I often photograph myself, to create the world of LILY PHOTOGRAPHY.

'with just a kiss'

Could you please tell us more about your workflow from idea to final product?
There are not many cases where an idea comes to me so much that I want to know how to get an image. I create a shot based on the atmosphere and personality of the subject that can be photographed at that time, the costumes and props available on the day of the shoot, the atmosphere of the location and other factors. If I have a specific image in mind, I will share images or sketches that are close to the final image in advance, but there are many cases where I go to a shoot without a specific image in mind. In these cases I will shoot using my own props and the studio's props and furniture, giving instructions on placement, posing and facial expressions according to my own preferences. In both cases, there are times when I am not able to shoot exactly as I had imagined, and I still have to learn through trial and error, but I believe that this kind of flexible ingenuity on location is one of the spices that helps me to create work that is unique to me. I shoot digitally, so I use software to develop the RAW files after the shoot, and I am very particular about colour tones and composition.

'foretaste'

I combine the images I have taken with my favourite works and my orientation, which I introduced earlier, to bring them closer to the image I am looking for. In some cases, the image is imagined before the photograph is taken, while in other cases it may occur to me during the retouching process and I may crop the image significantly or change the colours. In the latter case, a new chemical reaction may occur, which I find to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of creation. Similarly, looking back on past shoots after a long time can sometimes spark an expression that I had not thought of at the time, and new work often emerges.

'Fell into a sleep'

What would be your favourite photo? Please tell us the story behind it.

'Official Entrance'

This is a portrait of a very popular and admired model in Japan, whom I met at a photography exhibition I attended for the first time. I had about two months between deciding to shoot and the day of the shoot, so I went through the process of studying the concept of the shoot, collecting and sharing images that would serve as references for the images to be taken, and communicating this information to her. She was very supportive of the concept of the shoot and willing to accept my costume suggestions and crazy posing requests. She is known for her many beautiful works that highlight the beauty of her face and her superb proportions, but I dared her to hide her face and asked her to pose in strange ways, and within the limited time of 60 minutes, we shot these works in a shared studio where other photographers were also shooting together.

'Skull BOARDER'

In the course of my activities since then, she has received offers from other photographers to shoot works like hers, as well as many compliments from visitors to her photo exhibitions, which has given many people the opportunity to get to know me. I believe that this series has become one of LILY PHOTOGRAPHY's representative series.

'Transforme even a sad thing into brilliance'

'Beyond the time'

Is there anything else you wish to add  and what do you think about 1X as a home base for your work?

Since coming out of the long darkness of the global pandemic, the budget available for photographic activities has been squeezed, and the cost of shooting portrait work has continued to rise as a wave of price hikes has swept across Japan. As it has become harder to secure the financial resources and space to realise the free ideas and concepts I wanted to capture as I did back then, I continue to search for a shooting concept that allows me to express my own personality without being caught in those fences, and I continue my trial and error to produce works that make viewers smile, and I would like to continue my creative activities and participation in competitions, placing the highest priority on having fun.

'My Creamy Days'

As for making 1X one of the bases of my activities, I have a strong preference for the top curators who appreciate my style and select my works for awards, even if the general curators do not select them. I feel that 1X is a community that I can trust to tell me objectively whether my tastes and preferences are merely self-indulgent or whether they are also worthy of recognition from an artistic point of view.

'A Day Forgotten'