The Reason Behind Starting Snapthreads and Our Story

The Reason Behind Starting Snapthreads and Our Story

Hello and nice to meet you.
I am SHIMIZU Shigeyuki, a street photographer.

I have been deeply influenced by Daido Moriyama, one of Japan's leading photographers, and have been taking street photos for about 10 years.

The first reason I started this store was to create an opportunity for people to see my photos. While I don't necessarily aim to take photos that everyone will love, I believe that as a photographer, it is important to make an effort to have my photos seen.

The second reason was to create something that allows people to feel closer to "photography." In today's world, where an enormous amount of photos are uploaded to social media, those images can often be seen as mere data rather than "photographs." I believe it is not ideal for the culture of photography to move closer to being "images on social media."

Ideally, I would love for people to purchase and display photo prints, but in Japan, there is hardly a tradition of decorating rooms with art photos (how about in your country?).
I thought that by printing photos on T-shirts, people could easily see and wear them, bringing "photography" closer to their everyday lives.

Although it is difficult to achieve the same delicate prints as on paper, the high-contrast black-and-white photos are more than sufficient to convey the allure. This style of photography is indeed perfect for Daido Moriyama-esque street photography.

Currently, we have around 150 variations, but I have tens of thousands of photos that can be printed. Please look forward to more in the future.


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