I was virtually introduced to Simone through a mutual acquaintance in early spring. I was told she was a mime artist, so of course I was curious. We communicated though Facebook, and were trying to settle on a date for a shoot when the pandemic struck. The original plan was to rent an indoor space for the shoot because it was still cold out. But, with the virus spreading in Japan, we decided to postpone the shoot for a few months and change the location to somewhere outdoors. Finally, in late July, we were able to reschedule. Simone didn’t want to use the public transportation system because of fears about the virus, so I agreed to drive down to Nishio, a semi-rural area south of Nagoya, to meet her. I parked in the parking lot of a small park next to a busy road, not far from her workplace. As I am not familiar with Nishio, I had gone early to walk around and scout potential locations. After walking around the area for about half an hour, all I really found were rice fields, some scattered homes, and a factory. It was a sunny day, after weeks of mostly overcast and rainy weather, and the sun cast a harsh pall over the mostly flat terrain. To be honest, I was not really feeling inspired by either the surroundings or the weather, and was having some doubts about the shoot when Simone arrived at the park. Finally, we were able to meet face to face (or mask to mask anyway). Upon meeting Simone, I immediately felt more positive. I often feel anticipation before a shoot, but once it starts, my mind switches to problem-solving mode. Simone used the park restroom to change out of her work clothes and we warmed up with a few shots in the park itself. The sun was still high, the light still harsh, so I was hoping that it would get better as the afternoon wore on. There wasn’t much in the park in terms of equipment, but we found a small boulder in an areas with high grass. I asked Simone if she could use it as a platform. She told me that a corporeal mime should be able to perform in any space, basically, and hopped up on the rock. I got down low with my camera and put the sun behind Simone, figuring that with the lack of open shade, back-lighting was the only option at this point. (Click the arrows to see all the photos.)

We soon exhausted the possibilities of the boulder and decided to find another location. Near the park was a rice field so we went to see if it would work as a background. There was an area next to the rice field that was wide enough to allow for some movement, but the sun was still pretty high in the sky, so ideally I wanted a location with some open shade where we could shoot until golden hour arrived. As there were no buildings or large geographical features in that area, the only open shade we could find was inside a pedestrian tunnel. Once inside the tunnel, you basically had a natural, indirect light source coming from the open ends of the tunnel with a darker area near its center. So, lighting wise, I could put Simone closer to one of the entrances, with myself further into the tunnel, and shoot back-lit silhouettes, or I could position her more towards the middle with the light source coming from behind me, and position myself so that she was front or side lit against a dark backdrop. We decided to try both options.

We started with backlighting. I underexposed a bit so that Simone would become a mostly dark silhouette. I experimented with both 35mm and 24mm lenses to get a wide, surreal look. Once I was ready, Simone started doing her original, spur of the moment mime act.

A little bit more about Simone: Simone is from Miami, originally, but went to college in Southern California. While at college, she took a corporeal mime class on the glowing recommendation of an older student, having no idea what to expect. She fell in love with it, obviously, and ended up studying it for about 8 years before moving to Japan in 2018. Watching her do her thing, it is a bit hard to explain. It’s part dance, part acting, but stripped of all the props—the script, the director, the linear story line. Simone described it as learning how to “do” and how to “be”. As a photographer, she was great to work with. It reminded me a bit of some of the theater photography I’ve done in the past, except that there was no director, no stage, no artificial lighting, and I had no idea what the script was, or what she would do next. Using facial expressions and body movements she told a story in that tunnel, and I tried to interpret it one frozen moment at a time.

After shooting for awhile, I decided to switch to my 50mm lens to get a tighter frame, and focus more on her expressions, while still in silhouette light.

Next, I wanted to try front and side lighting. The light coming into the tunnel was indirect and diffuse, and it wrapped nicely around Simone’s face and body. While I liked the silhouette lighting for emphasizing Simone’s body shape and movements, the front and side lighting gave me a chance to focus on her facial features. It was fascinating to watch an internal drama play out in her expressions. She had brought a wooden box as a prop, and it provided a nice visual element. Up until that point, I realized, she really had not yet looked at the camera. It occurred to me that she might not know whether it was appropriate to do so, so I let her know that it was OK. For most of the shoot I had felt like a voyeur, so the first time she looked at the camera while performing it startled me. I felt exposed, as though the wall between performer and audience had been torn down. Getting that sort of candid look from a model is usually a challenge, but with Simone it felt spontaneous, organic, and exciting.

After twenty or thirty minutes in the tunnel, the sky had clouded over and the sun had dipped, giving the light a soft, diffuse look, even in the open. We decided to venture out in front of the green rice fields.

The light grew progressively softer and more omni-directional as it got later—the sort of light that inspires me as a photographer. There are photographers who describe themselves as “natural light” photographers, as though that somehow makes them more pure or honest than portrait photographers who use artificial lighting. I think that’s self-delusional nonsense. Photography is the process of capturing a scene in the best light possible, and if that requires artificial lighting, then a “pro” should know how to use it when necessary. On the other hand, I also know photographers who love artificial lighting, and particularly in outdoor photo shoots. They set up a light source powerful enough to overpower the sun, and then to underexpose the scene to get a dark, colorful background. It’s a striking look that could not be achieved using only natural light. Personally, I tend to not bring my strobes and soft box more out of laziness than anything else, and there are times when I’ve regretted not having them. But, when the conditions are right, natural light really is beautiful, and I like the freedom (as well as the limitations) that come from having nothing to carry around except my camera.

We moved up onto the elevated path between the river and the rice field, where the view was more expansive. Besides her box, Simone had also brought along a chair, and she suggested using it now. I liked the idea of Simone on her chair, in the middle of nowhere, so she want back to her car to fetch it and carried it onto the path…

She also had her box still. At one point, I asked her what was inside it…

Finally, for the last series of images, I switched from the 50mm back to the 35mm to take in the wider landscape, with Simone in the middle of it all with her chair, in the last light of the day.

Not really knowing what to expect, and shooting in an unfamiliar location, I had some trepidation going into this shoot. But, in the end, I was very happy with the way it turned out. It was a collaborative effort, unlike anything I’ve done before, that grew organically into something original and beautiful. We’ve agreed to do more shoots in the future, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they unfold.