洋々 - 大学別キャンパスライフ

　GWが空け、SFC生は恐ろしい量の課題の波に襲われ、ようやくなんとか乗り切った。そんなタイミングの更新です。所属する坂井ゼミではこれまで、名刺、Tシャツのデザインを行ってきましたが、今回出された課題は、「LEDを用いたタスクライトを作成せよ」ということで、人生初の電子工作になります。情報収集に余念がありません。
　さて、以前連絡をもらっていたイギリスのカルチャー紙DISAPPEAR HEREに、ついに私のインタビューが掲載されました。以下、インタビューを転載したいと思います。あまりの褒め具合に多少の戸惑いを覚えつつも、努力していることが人に認められるということはやはり嬉しいものです。　

DISAPPEAR HERE

参照URL：(http://disappearheremag.com/features/article/ryo_nakagawa_party_photographer/">http://disappearheremag.com/features/article/ryo_nakagawa_party_photographer/)

　If there’s one person who you guarantee will be at more hip hangouts and cool clubs than Paris Hilton， its party photographer Ryo Nakagawa， who has been steadily making a name for himself on the Tokyo party scene with his blog “Tokyo Party Night.”

The 20 year old set up his blog back in 2007 to showcase his work as a party photographer in Japan’s capital city. It’s hard work， as he himself admits. “I go to parties up to five times a week and I can sometimes be at three different parties in a night. If there happens to be a period of more than seven days when I’m not going to parties， then I try to find other things to upload onto the blog. I try not to go more than a week without updating.”

Nakagawa has photographed not only Japan’s party crowd， but also the likes of The Misshapes and other well known names in showbiz， and has worked at the Dior Homme， Armani， Katharine Hamnet and Dom Perignon parties to name just a few. If it’s hot and happening， he’ll be there.  “The most interesting thing about parties is that I can meet and talk to people there who I wouldn’t come into contact with in an everyday situation，” he says.

I stumbled across Nakagawa’s blog by accident on the internet a few months back and was blown away by how he managed to capture the raw energy and fun vibe of Tokyo on film. These pictures weren’t your average Facebook-style drunken party snaps. They were something special and unique， a reflection of not only the talent of the photographer， but also his passion for photography. And there is no airbrushing， no OTT digital enhancement to detract from the photographs. “My camera and photographs are my communication tools. I use three different types of camera. The first is a single-lens reflex NIKON digital camera. The second is a RICOH GR-Digital， and the third is an instant camera- a CHEKI from FUJIFILM.”

Nakagawa is far from an amateur， having worked for Pyramid Film and also as an assistant for renowned Japanese photographer Yasumasa Yonehara. He is a busy boy indeed， juggling his party photography with a job as a Red Bull Student Brand Manager， a place at Keio University in Tokyo and working on his other passion， graphic design. He has already won several prestigious photography awards for his work， including the Special Award in 2008 at the Freeml photography competition. Last year he also scooped the Young Photographer Award 2008 at the Japan Photographer’s Union， and has also recently won the Young Award 2009 at the Japan Professional Photographer’s Society. And as well as gaining recognition in his homeland， the rest of the world is also beginning to sit up and take notice. His photographs have already been featured on The Misshapes’ website， and comments left on Nakagawa’s blog come from all around the world. It’s a fairly safe assumption to say that it’s just a matter of time until he becomes The Next Big Thing in photography.

Nakagawa himself has experience of growing up in both Egypt and Germany， and believes this has influenced his work. “It might be because of my experience living abroad in my childhood， but I sometimes feel that Japanese people have too much longing for other countries， and therefore pay less attention to their own culture. I think there are many interesting aspects to culture in Japan. I created Tokyo Party Night to introduce the real culture in Japan to the world， and also to Japan itself.”

He has kindly decided to share some of his favourite pictures with Disappear Here readers. “I chose these photos because I can really feel the music in them， and I think they represent the underground culture in Tokyo，” he explains. Enjoy- and remember， you saw them here first!