Yoshi Hirata
Wildlife Photographer
"Real beauty can only be appreciated if one wants to get involved with it, wants to see and experience it."
"In my opinion, the artist’s point of view does not differ much from the scientist’s viewpoint; both use their imagination for the advancement of knowledge and beauty."
About the photographer
Ever since I studied marine biology at the University of Hawaii, I was engaged in diving and underwater photography. I had come in contact with art even earlier, since my father was a painter. Today, after more than 26000 dives and hopefully many more to come I can say that both science and art shaped my career as an underwater photographer. I both look for art and the simple things in life. Beauty is hidden in every simple aspect, not only in complex ones. Real beauty can only be appreciated if one wants to get involved with it, wants to see and experience it. In my opinion, the artist’s point of view does not differ much from the scientist’s viewpoint; both use their imagination for the advancement of knowledge and beauty. In black-and-white photography beauty is described in the absence of either light or darkness.
The importance of shadows is a vital criterion for artistic black-and-white photography. Many photographers have forgotten this almost lost art when they only focus on light. Light comes to life only in the presence of shadow and darkness. It was in this dark void where creation took place and for me only darkness gives birth to lit-up matter. I find beauty in a single beam of light in total blackness, which can be seen in my recent work. The photographic skills necessary for creating art resemble the skills a poet needs in his unending search for suitable words.
By focusing my camera, I find the missing word in the unfocused pattern of light and darkness and thus am able to express the missing word with a picture of what I see. It goes without saying that movies are more effective in that regard, but as many people know, movements in the imagination can only be expressed by still photography. As an artist I also keep thinking about the meaning of life. Some people say life is just a whim of nature, but I believe life has a reason and I want to make sense of it. I think the mission given to me is to express and show the amazing beauty and richness of oceanic life to as many people as possible and melt their hearts.