Finally, uploaded a project that we worked on nearly a year ago. It’s a portrait of Eishi Hamaguchi, a young illustrator based out of Setagaya. His earliest published works are collections of illustrations that he did during elementary and middle school, showing a propensity towards production from a young age. Some of the characteristics of his work besides the constant production are a sort of horror vacui and the comprehensive internal world to which the majority of his illustrations refer. As a social aspect of his work, he writes stories that are identifiable for kids that display talent but still struggle within the typical school environment, drawing on his own difficult experiences within the Japanese school system as an individual with Asperger’s and dyslexia.     

The experience of working on this project as a whole was good. There were some complications with the audio, not being used to the particular equipment we were using for this shoot, but overall it was nice to speak to Eishi who was very thoughtful and articulate for his age. The highlight (besides the tea and cake his mother served during the shoot) was definitely shooting the last sequence. We borrowed some space and an overhead projector to film Eishi producing a quick illustration. Relying on the light to bring to life a small element of the internal world that he often references in his illustrations.