Tomoaki Hata
PORTRAITS OF SOMEONE: NYC STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Tomoaki Hata is a photographic artist with over 25 years of experience. He began documenting Japan's hidden underground subcultures, capturing the Japanese drag ball scene, BDSM parties, burlesque shows, and more. His unique documentation earned acclaim and was published in Japan and the U.S. in 2010.
Specializing in cultural events overlooked by the mainstream, Hata brings a sociological and anthropological lens to his work. He has also leveraged his extensive knowledge of modern Japanese culture to contribute to projects like the compilation of a history of Japanese photography. Currently, he divides his time between New York and Japan, working on various projects.
Specializing in cultural events overlooked by the mainstream, Hata brings a sociological and anthropological lens to his work. He has also leveraged his extensive knowledge of modern Japanese culture to contribute to projects like the compilation of a history of Japanese photography. Currently, he divides his time between New York and Japan, working on various projects.
Tomoaki Hata "Portraits of Someone: NYC Street Photography"
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Portraits of Someone: NYC Street Photography
Taking a picture means choosing a reality. What do I look at? What do I choose not to see? An endless array of choices lies before me. Some turn to the dazzling lights of Times Square. Others pose in front of skyscrapers to add a touch of glamour to their Instagram feeds. Beautiful images of New York City will undoubtedly be recorded there.
I simply chose differently.
This is a story I witnessed on the streets of New York City — a theater of madness with no audience.
Photographers are losing their once-privileged status. In the country where I was born, a major earthquake struck on the first day of 2024. Yet, it was ordinary people with smartphones who documented the event. In that sense, we, the so-called photographers, have already received our death sentence.
We persist, clinging to the notion of our own significance. But, ironically, the more perfectly composed a photograph is — the more beautiful it appears — the more it deteriorates into banality. In an age where we've acquired countless visual literacies, only the imperfect, the unstable, can convey reality as it truly feels.
Taking a picture means choosing a reality. What do I look at? What do I choose not to see? An endless array of choices lies before me. Some turn to the dazzling lights of Times Square. Others pose in front of skyscrapers to add a touch of glamour to their Instagram feeds. Beautiful images of New York City will undoubtedly be recorded there.
I simply chose differently.
This is a story I witnessed on the streets of New York City — a theater of madness with no audience.
Photographers are losing their once-privileged status. In the country where I was born, a major earthquake struck on the first day of 2024. Yet, it was ordinary people with smartphones who documented the event. In that sense, we, the so-called photographers, have already received our death sentence.
We persist, clinging to the notion of our own significance. But, ironically, the more perfectly composed a photograph is — the more beautiful it appears — the more it deteriorates into banality. In an age where we've acquired countless visual literacies, only the imperfect, the unstable, can convey reality as it truly feels.
"What matters to me is whether, 100 or 200 years from now, these images will endure, leaving behind a visual testament of early 21st-century life."
Beauty and misery, I believe, are two forces that deeply affect the human spirit. Misery, in particular, fascinates photographers. Look down at your feet; misery swirls around you. One need not travel to distant war zones to find it. I chose to focus on that misery. This is the photographer's inherent vulgarity: the act of exploiting the suffering of others. I do not deny my own complicity in this.
Yet, I also see it as my mission — to accept that uncomfortable truth and document the world's misery and, occasionally, its joy. The people captured here deserve to be recorded as witnesses of our era. I'm not concerned with how my work is received in 2025. What matters to me is whether, 100 or 200 years from now, these images will endure, leaving behind a visual testament of early 21st-century life.
These photographs are the result of that commitment. This series began in earnest in 2020. Now, in its fifth year, it has grown into an expansive body of work. My goal is to continue this project for a full decade, preserving these fleeting moments of reality for the distant future.
Yet, I also see it as my mission — to accept that uncomfortable truth and document the world's misery and, occasionally, its joy. The people captured here deserve to be recorded as witnesses of our era. I'm not concerned with how my work is received in 2025. What matters to me is whether, 100 or 200 years from now, these images will endure, leaving behind a visual testament of early 21st-century life.
These photographs are the result of that commitment. This series began in earnest in 2020. Now, in its fifth year, it has grown into an expansive body of work. My goal is to continue this project for a full decade, preserving these fleeting moments of reality for the distant future.