Report - Artist Now! Talk- Kevin Miyazaki

Artists Now! Guest Lecture Series: Kevin Miyazaki

March 8 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

By Rebeka Schmieder

Kevin Miyazaki is a masterful photographer who captures precise images that feel crisp and vivid. He has traveled to different places around the world doing commercial work, including food photography, portraiture, travel, landscape, but he never puts limits on his assignments. His close attention to the composition and his technical skill make his work popular and he has garnered a wide audience. 

Miyazaki began his career as a photojournalist for newspapers/magazines. He mentioned in his lecture that  he liked being "in the front row of people's lives." Photojournalism provided this for him. He also liked that in this type of photography he had no control over the subjects or actions in the images. At this point in his career he considered himself a  documentary photographer. I have found that many photographers chose this style because it lets the artist be an observer, but not the controller. I appreciate this in my own work as well. I chose to not be the "instigator" of a photograph. 

Miyazaki continued to create photos for Milwaukee magazine. He did more freelance work and commercial photography work for magazines like Readers Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, etc. Much of his commercial work is environmental portraiture. More recently he has made more studio based portrait photographs. 

Miyazaki showed much travel photography. This work gives him the chance to enjoy different cultures and see different landscapes. I found work quite beautiful. Most of the photos have a quite/peaceful tone to them. I appreciate that when he goes to different cities, he does not focus on one aspect of a place like some photographers who seem to trap themselves into one view of a place. This is because they are an outsider and they forget to let themselves understand a new place. Miyazaki puts the viewer into the location he is shooting in. 

I enjoyed Miyazaki's most recent work, Perimeter. I saw a small part of this series while in Port Washington at the 221 Gallery. What I find most interesting about the photos is the process used in taking the photos. He traveled along Lake Michigan taking family and individual portraits, creating a survey of the variety of residents and visitors. The portraits used a black backdrop with simple diffused light. Miyazaki created a transportable mini-studio for this project. I thought it was a crafty way to make these perfectly lit portraits. Perimeter  was displayed at the Haggerty Museum at Marquette University. This display was beautifully composed and displayed the 2 parts of the series, the lake and the people. 

Perimeter at the Haggerty Museum

Kevin Miyazaki found his niche in photography long time ago and has stuck with it since. His craft is impeccable and methodical. I could look at his photographs all day.