Watashi Photography NY is run by a Japanese photographer based in New York City.
We offer a wide range of photography services, mainly focusing on portraits, weddings, and commemorative photos taken around the streets of New York. We also handle documentation photography for artworks, food photography, casual smartphone snapshots, and video shoots using a 360-degree camera upon request.
In collaboration with my husband, we also offer specialized tours that delve into New York’s history, architecture, and art. Additionally, we support for artists visiting the U.S. If you’re interested, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
The name “Watashi” carries a dual meaning in Japanese: it signifies both “I (私)” and “to hand over/pass on (渡し).”
Watashi-shashin (私写真) refers to photography that focuses on the photographer’s personal surroundings or private experiences. It places importance on the precious moments that occur between the subject and the photographer. The concept is also about “passing on” memories and experiences through photographs to those visiting New York from various walks of life.
What is “Watashi-shashin”
“Watashi-shashin” refers to photography based on the personal circumstances and private events of the photographer. Around the 1970s, in response to the dominant trends of realism photography that had flourished after the war, and advertising photography emphasizing visual shock, a wave of photography emerged in Japan that avoided relying on the capitalized “I,” instead attempting approaches from individual and personal standpoints. Drawing from the literary term “I-novel” (shishōsetsu), this photographic tendency came to be known as “Watashi-shashin.”
(Excerpt from the Dictionary of Contemporary Art Terms)
Photography exists as a quiet record—to be looked back on someday with someone, or quietly kept within oneself.
As a “private photographer,” I strive to capture your personal time and space, whether it’s a special occasion, a seemingly ordinary but important moment in daily life, or a record of your activities and expressions.
(As of 2025, Watashi Photography does not share any client photographs publicly or on social media platforms.)
Whether you want to carefully preserve memories with your children, family, or loved ones; whether publicizing your photos is difficult due to your work or status; whether you want to leave a “private album” to revisit someday; or whether you want to properly archive your activities and works created in New York—we aim to support and stay close to your individual memories through photography.
Currently based in New York City.
Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Information Design.
Born in Niigata Prefecture and raised in Kanagawa Prefecture. Kamakura and Yokohama are where my heart belongs.
My work is grounded in tranquility, nature, and transition.
In encountering it, viewers may release meaning and language, and simply remain with what is present.
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” – Ernst Haas
Link / Service:
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