Kazuaki Koseki : The Ephemeral as Legacy
Hailing from Yamagata in northern Japan, Kazuaki Koseki stands as both the heir to a photographic lineage and a sensitive witness to a world in transformation. Born into a family of studio photographers, he chose to turn the camera away from its traditional function and instead approach nature as a living archive fragile, shifting, and impermanent. His images, often suffused with diaphanous light and veiled in mist, hover at the threshold of the visible and the invisible. They reveal what exists only for an instant: melting snow flooding a lake, the sudden force of a storm, or the phosphorescent tremor of fireflies in the summer night.
What defines Koseki’s work is not the documentary description of landscapes, but their sensory translation. He does not photograph nature as it simply appears, but as it reveals itself in its fleetingness: texture, breath, silence. His practice resembles a visual meditation, in which the gaze becomes a vessel for transformations, as though each image captured a memory already in the process of vanishing.
From this perspective, his work transcends pure contemplation. Beneath the hypnotic beauty of his photographs lies an acute awareness of the world’s fragility. His images remind us that what we admire is perpetually endangered, and that beauty carries within it an urgency: the imperative to preserve what remains. Balancing the weight of familial tradition with a contemporary ecological unease, Koseki has carved out a singular place in Japanese photography today. His images—suspended between poetry and gravity—do not seek to enshrine nature as an icon, but rather to restore its breath, as fragile as it is essential.
Website : www.kazaukikoseki.com
Instagram : @isseycraft
News : Until november 2nd, Kazuaki Koseki participates to the 13e photographic season of l’Abbaye Royale de l’Epau, next to Le Mans (Yvré-l’Evêque).
Your first photographic trigger ?
Kazuaki Koseki : I was born the eldest son of a family that owned a photography studio.
I grew up in an environment where photography was close by, helping to dry washed prints before I was even a teenager, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I started working in a photography studio and started taking portraits at the studio under my father’s tutelage. Photographing nature was just a hobby, and I did it while going to the mountains, forests and rivers for fly-fishing, which I discovered at the same time and which originated in the UK. On 11 March 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck the east coast of Tohoku, including Miyagi Prefecture, where I lived when I was younger. Seeing my friends die and so many others affected, I learnt about the ferocity of nature and the fragility of life. Then, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident engulfed the Tōhoku region in invisible terror. It also enveloped the river I used to travel on for some time. These experiences were a very big driving force for me to start creating my artwork.
The man or woman of image who inspired you?
Kazuaki Koseki : I Among female photographers, I particularly admire Rinko Kawauchi and Terri Weifenbach, and I find myself deeply resonating with their work.
The one that moved you the most?
Kazuaki Koseki : When I first saw Ansel Adams’ original print taken in Yellowstone in my twenties, I was profoundly moved by the beauty of its tonal gradation.
And the one that made you angry?
Kazuaki Koseki : I feel intense anger towards plagiarised photographs. New images, concepts, words – things created at great personal cost – hold special significance for their creator. However, I do not consider works inspired by respect to be inherently bad.
Which photo changed the world?
Kazuaki Koseki : Can photography change the world as it is today? In this age overflowing with images, I believe it would be a miraculous photograph, but I do hope to see such a photograph someday.
And which photo changed your world?
Kazuaki Koseki : When I saw Hiroshi Sugimoto’s seascapes, I felt liberated, realising that photographic expression could be far freer and better.
What interests you most in an image?
Kazuaki Koseki : Subjects possessing unpredictability. For instance, the light trails of fireflies I photograph possess unpredictability; I cannot capture the same light trail twice, and they are always changing. And I enjoy the process of photographing them while contemplating this inherently unpredictable phenomenon and unravelling why it occurs.
What is the last photo you took ?
Kazuaki Koseki : Yesterday, the three of us went to the river, and here’s a photo of my daughter enjoying herself while wading in the water.
A photographic memory from your childhood?
Kazuaki Koseki : The portrait photograph of my father’s mentor that hung in our home. My father, who ran a photographic studio, had trained under the owner of that studio in his youth. I still vividly remember seeing that portrait photograph of his mentor every day. And that gentleman was also my godfather.
According to you, what is the necessary quality to be a good photographer?
Kazuaki Koseki : Perseverance, not giving up, and maintaining a strong will to do so.
What makes a good photo?
Kazuaki Koseki : A photograph you could gaze at forever without ever growing tired of it.
The person you would like to photograph?
Kazuaki Koseki : I wish to photograph people throughout their lives—ordinary individuals who regularly visit studios, from babies and children to the elderly.
An indispensable photo book?
Kazuaki Koseki : I don’t collect photo books in great numbers, but I occasionally find myself leafing through Terri Weifenbach’s collection of photographs taken in Giverny, France. Looking through it always brings back that feeling of richness and tranquillity.
The camera of your childhood?
Kazuaki Koseki : This is the Nikon F3 my father bought me when I joined the photography club in high school during my teens. Before that, I occasionally took photos with the compact camera my father used.
The one you use today?
Kazuaki Koseki : Nikon digital SLR camera.
How do you choose your projects ?
Kazuaki Koseki : Spending time in nature sparks much inspiration, and I begin photographing these moments. Yet it is only through sustained practice, continually contemplating the land’s history and my own connection to it, that something distinctive emerges. When these threads intertwine, they often evolve into a project.
How would you describe your creative process?
Kazuaki Koseki : The first stage involves simultaneous observation and photography. The second stage entails selecting images, digital processing, and refining tones and other aspects to achieve the final look. The third stage of printing involves selecting the paper, meticulously matching the refined tones, and adding subtle individuality. To borrow Ansel Adams’ words: The first stage is the writing of the lyrics. The second stage is the composition of the music. And the third stage of printing might be the performance.
An upcoming project that’s close to your heart?
Kazuaki Koseki : The ongoing project ‘Reborn’ captures scenes of marshes freezing over with snow in winter using drones. It began nearly a decade ago when, while photographing a marsh I had frequented since childhood, I discovered the strange patterns formed by the frozen marsh. Since then, I have spent years researching why such shapes form, including historical context, always dreaming of seeing this spectacle via drone. When I finally witnessed it in person several years ago, I was astonished by a sight beyond my expectations – one I had never encountered before. It was like witnessing the moment a living creature is reborn. This series reached the finalist stage in the Professional category of the Sony World Photography Awards and was exhibited in the UK, yet it continues to evolve as an ongoing project.
Your favorite drug?
Kazuaki Koseki : I don’t take drugs, but spending time in nature fulfils me both physically and mentally.
The best way to disconnect for you ?
Kazuaki Koseki : I’m not disconnect adept at decluttering and have a tendency to hoard things, but I consider this both a trait of my character and a shortcoming.
What is your personal relationship to the image ?
Kazuaki Koseki : I often feel that it is based on my personal relationships, and I believe that images with strong personal connections become projects.
I take photographs in the place where I have lived since birth, so they encompass various aspects: regional matters, cultural elements, and connections within my personal history to date.
Who would you like to be photographed by ?
Kazuaki Koseki : I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I’d love to see photographs taken by someone who captures expressions and aspects of my character I never knew I had.
Your latest folly?
Kazuaki Koseki : Despite only speaking Japanese, I visited France and Italy.
Everyone treated me kindly and communicated using smartphone translation apps, so I had a wonderful time and it proved a valuable experience.
An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Kazuaki Koseki : I should like to see the banknote featuring the image of a firefly.
If you would not have been a photographer ?
Kazuaki Koseki : Until my mid-teens, I had thought about becoming an architect.
As a child, I loved building and imagining things like secret bases in forests and vacant lots.
The job you would not have liked to do ?
Kazuaki Koseki : I was born the eldest son of a photographic studio, but until around the age of twenty, during my adolescence, I rebelled against that sense of mission and expectation, and thought I would never work in the studio.
However, after living alone and working in a different profession, I began to reflect on my parents’ hardships and feel gratitude towards them. After about five years, I apprenticed myself to my father, and now I have taken over the studio, managing it and doing the photography.
Your greatest professional extravagance?
Kazuaki Koseki : Time spent alone in nature, moved by some event.
What question could get you off track?
Kazuaki Koseki : Topics concerning nature, particularly trees and such. And if asked about fly fishing, I’ll likely go off on a tangent.
What was the last thing you did for the first time?
Kazuaki Koseki : My trip to France several months ago. My first solo journey to Europe without speaking the language. Yet it proved an immensely valuable experience. There are things you cannot convey because you cannot speak, yet conversely, there are things you understand precisely because you cannot speak.
The city, the country or the culture you dream of discovering?
Kazuaki Koseki : This year, having visited France and Italy for the first time, I became interested in the streetscapes of other European countries and the differences in their respective cultures, and I now wish to experience them for myself.
The place you never get tired of ?
Kazuaki Koseki : When I was a child, my parents often took me to the riverbed upstream of a large river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, where we would barbecue. The river’s flow seemed constant, yet it was always changing. Just the other day, my wife, daughter and I played skipping stones on that very river.
Your biggest regret ?
Kazuaki Koseki : Had I changed something in my life, it might be different from the life I lead now. Thinking that way, perhaps I have few major regrets.
In terms of social networks, are you more into Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or Twitter and why?
Kazuaki Koseki : Instagram. I like its visual and intuitive ease of use.
Color or B&W?
Kazuaki Koseki : I like both for their respective merits, but I hold the view that a good colour photograph can also work well in monochrome. When digitally processing images, I sometimes convert colour to monochrome to check the tonal quality.
Daylight or artificial light?
Kazuaki Koseki : If anything, it’s natural light. Given my profession of photographing people in studios, I originally learnt from artificial light, but I came to understand that lighting techniques ultimately began with natural light. Nowadays, I often consider good lighting by recreating the light I’ve seen in nature using artificial light. The reverse is also true: having learnt about artificial light, I feel I can constantly consider how natural light changes and at what time it will become the light I seek.
Which city do you think is the most photogenic?
Kazuaki Koseki : The city of Tokyo in Japan is one where nature was lost long ago, an artificial landscape that continues to transform without cease. The view from high places at night, in particular, is strangely vast, almost drawing one in. And the old town of Le Mans, which I visited in France, was a photogenic place steeped in history.
If God existed would you ask him to pose for you, or would you opt for a selfie with him?
Kazuaki Koseki : Rather than asking God to strike a pose, I wish to see (and capture) God’s natural, everyday form.
If I could organize your ideal dinner party, who would be at the table?
Kazuaki Koseki : If I could hear singer Enya perform live, it would make for the most splendid dinner.
The image that represents for you the current state of the world?
Kazuaki Koseki : It may be an abstract, chaotic image. A world fraught with many problems, a planet Earth in constant flux. Expressing these things is likely to be fraught with difficulty.
According to you, what is missing in today’s world?
Kazuaki Koseki : If only we could muster a little more consideration for all manner of things, I sometimes think we might be able to live in a slightly better world.
If you had to start all over again?
Kazuaki Koseki : I wish to continue acting without regret, so that I may proudly declare: ‘This life is enough!’
What do you like people to say about you?
Kazuaki Koseki : Being praised can be pleasant, but receiving too much praise can sometimes make one feel uneasy instead.
The one thing we absolutely must know about you?
Kazuaki Koseki : I’m not very good at telling lies, so I suppose I’m quite an honest sort.
A last word ?
Kazuaki Koseki : My work is currently on display at L’Abbaye Royale de l’Épau in Le Mans, France, until November. This marks the first time my work, shot and created in Japan, has been exhibited in France, which I consider a tremendous honour. Should you have the opportunity to visit, I would be delighted if you could take a look. If you find it interesting, I would be very pleased if you could follow my Instagram or leave a comment.
