Interview Kiko Mizuhara & Motegi Monica| Photo exhibition "Dream Blue"

——It seems that this group of works were taken during the road trip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but why did you decide to take a picture taken four years ago now?

Motegi Monica (“Motegi”): “When I took this picture, I didn’t think of making a book, just Kiko, I and the designer Kristen went on the road trip and took it naturally without any plans. But I loved this photo the most in my career, and I always wanted to show it to the world because it was able to show my true self and real Kiko. I didn't really think about when and how to get out, but after COVID-19, I decided to do my best to do what I wanted to do, and that triggered me to create it in three months."

Kiko Mizuhara (Suweon) “The main purpose of this trip was to go to be liberated in nature, not to take pictures. But they are all very special photos. Before Corona, there were some things I liked, but there were honest places that seemed to do my job quickly, but when I felt a sense of crisis that I didn't know what will happen tomorrow, I wanted to send out what I really like and value, and by showing my natural self, I wanted to feel a little freedom and liberation, and to think that it was really good."

——Were you selected the photos to be included in the photo book?

Suibara: Yes. But Monica has all the photos, so while sharing them, she basically laid out everything out.”

Motegi: "When I dug up the photo, there are some things I don't remember what I took, so I reviewed it while remembering it. When I traveled, I was 24 years old and Kiko was 26 years old, and my life in private was emotional, so it was a very special memory, and I relived it while reviewing the pictures that I cut it out.”

——What are the points when choosing photos?

Suweon: "It's the sun that Monica sticked to you."

Motegi “Yes, Sunrise and Sunset Flow. The three days I was on the road trip, I felt like I was following the sun."

Suibara "At the beginning of the photo book, the sun rises and becomes sunrise, and the sun falls from there. When I was filming, I felt the sun a lot.”

Motegi: "The last photo is that the sun was set and it was dark, so it was a bit scary, spiritual feeling that Kiko felt a bit scary because there was nobody there, and Kiko had a look like crying."

——What are the most impressive episodes of your trip?

Suibara: "There's so much, but on the last day I drove a place like a canyon where there's a big rock and the desert is spreading. Then suddenly I saw a white world. I was so surprised and excited because I didn’t expect it from the desert to snow scene.”

Motegi: And in July. It was a very mysterious place like a landscape diagonally occurring, with snow falling from the desert after driving for about 30 minutes. It is warm when there is snow.”

Suibara: “Nobody was there and it was really like a dream. Another thing is that Kristen said, "When you open your legs toward the sun, you can absorb the energy of the sun, so let's do it because it seems so good," and then I took a picture of lying on a blue picnic blanket (laughs). It was a very valuable experience. It was pleasant and liberating.”

Motegi: Yeah, I want everyone to try it.

Suibara: But it’s hard to find where no one else is.”

——In the nude of this work, I felt that I was in harmony with nature, and at the same time I felt that my body was my own.

Suibara: "It's a major premise, and I don't know that when I'm shooting it. It's like I've really returned to a natural person, it's a beautiful place, and since there's no one, I'm barefoot and naked. Then Monica shot it with an experience that strangely springs up vitality, makes me feel happy, makes me want to run, is impressed and emotional, and anyway, my heart is shaking all the time. When I put out a nude photo book or when I go to a movie with a lot of physical exposure, I think that it is often perceived negatively like a “nood of preparedness”, but this is not the case at all, it is the state that I am there as it is. So, if a woman came to see it with a feeling like she was naked and was stretched out, I'm sure she would beat it. It's not sexual at all, it's like a human hymn that positively captures a woman's naked body."

Motegi: "Isn't photography a very different impression just by the angle of the body? I think this is not a sexual part, but something like strength comes out naturally. The photo climbing a large rock looks very strong, and Kiko feels like a person from an ancient era. If you touch the soil barefoot, something will change. I want everyone to run naked in nature once. You're really free and feel good. When I look at this photo, I feel that freedom, not sexual."

Suibara: "All of this shooting felt like I left myself naturally and became a part of nature. I really think you are. Experience of being freed naked in nature, whether you can do it once in your life. The sense of liberation in the photo, regardless of age or gender, can feel something human-to-human."

——This is exactly the case with this photo, but for Mr. Suwon, Motegi always says that he is a photographer who shows his true self. From where did the relationship of trust be built between you two?

Suibara: "At first, I often met at work, but I really liked the photos she took, and I was a fan. The situation where I grew up is similar, and my favorite music, art, and culture are similar. You might like to go to a place in nature, but the wavelength is right.”

Motegi: Why is the life of the two always synchronous? For example, if I fall in love, she will also fall in love. So we can talk at the same time, understand it, and enjoy it without doing anything.”

Suibara: "The timing of love and the time of separation are almost the same (laughs). They talk a lot and encourage each other, and they look at the event from a bird's-eye view, and that conversation somehow leads to work. It's a very strange relationship that can't be defined by words, and it's connected somewhere. I don’t think we meet so many people like this.”

——What is Mr. Suwon's appeal as a subject for Motegi?

Motegi: "Kiko doesn't make a limit on herself. When I shoot other people, I sometimes feel a little suppression, but Kiko is not afraid to show her true face, so it's very fun as a photographer. Don’t look good, but trust me.”

Suibara: "Monica doesn't like poses either. When I pose sometimes, I put my camera down (laughs). The reason why Monica's photo feels cinematic is probably because it's taking a movement. There is no feeling of being stationary at all, and you feel alive. That's her charm. I like that kind of photograph, and those who take that kind of photograph are rare, and those who have great special ability to draw out the best part of the subject."

Motegi: “This filming had a lot of miraculous moments. That running photo was just like the rainbow in the reflection of the lens."

Suweon: "There were a lot of photographs that were only uncalculated miraculous, even though they were not measured by the exposure meter."

Motegi: "In the exhibition hall, you can see almost all of the photos I took at this time in the light box."

Suibara: "I think that will give you more insight into how natural these photos were taken in a natural environment. It’s also a very important part of the show.”

——Mr. Mogi liked PARCO advertising, but how did you feel about exhibiting and publishing at PARCO?

Motegi: “I loved PARCO commercials from the 70s and 80s long before I started photography, and we approached this exhibition and photo book from us. I was so glad to be so free.”

Suibara: “Paco has been creating culture for a long time, so there was a great respect for art, and I was encouraging and grateful because the values there were the same. This photo was taken in a very precious time for us, so if we put it out, we wanted to express it realistically in our hands, in a way that we would never regret it, but I was really happy to be able to do more than we imagined.”

——At Shibuya PARCO, Mr. Suwon also opened a store under his own brand “OK” (in CYCLE POP UP STORE) for the project of “CYCLE” with the theme of sustainability.

Suibara: "I think it's important for everyone to be aware of sustainability, so there are things that I care about when living as an individual, but I think that sometimes it can be conveyed through fashion. Now, we dismantle used clothes for children to make bags, and we make knit cardigans, bags, hats, etc. using recycled fiber from collected clothing garbage. At the last POP UP, my sister made stuffed toys and cushions using used clothes were popular and sold out immediately, so this time my sister made stuffed toys from used clothes. In addition, we plan to sell a mask holder that dismantles all the parts of accessories that are no longer used and connects them to a single chain. It's very difficult because it's handmade one by one, but it's rewarding. I think that it is very important to tell and show that things that can be discarded can be born and changed in such a beautiful form, so I'm trying a little by little. I think it would be great if you feel valued for it.”

Kiko Mizuhara Photo Book "Dream Blue" Photo Book with Kiko Mizuhara and Motegi Monica autograph

During the period from March 29 (Mon) to April 11 (Sun), 2021, a present will be held on Shibuya PARCO official Instagram.

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