Master Of Light: Takehito Miyatake
Takehito Miyatake is a Japanese nature photographer who is known for his long exposure shots capturing the eruptions of the Sakurajima volcano and his photos of magical firefly trails.
Born in Osaka in 1966, Miyatake graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University, majoring in vision optic at the Faculty of Photo Engineering. Inspired by the work of landscape photographer Yoshikazu Shirakawa, he began to shoot nature photographs. One of his most memorable shots are scenes of the water surrounding the Kii peninsula.
In 2009, Miyatake shot the eruption of the Sakurajima volcano, which made him an internationally known photographer and later had him win Grand Prize at the 2014 Nikkei National Geographic Photo Awards. Miyatake’s specialities are long-exposure shots that can last between 15 seconds to 30 minutes. He calls the scenes he captures the "light of Japan."
In an interview with Time magazine, he revealed that one of his important influences is a classical form of Japanese poetry – Waka poems. These poems are written so that their arrangement of syllables is meant to be a concise expression of the human heart's response to nature.
“Waka is a poem to express the scope of nature [by] using limited words since its birth in the eighth century in Japan. The method has been working beautifully and precisely to express nature with sympathy. I believe Waka is very similar to nature photography.”
Another significant influence for Miyatake was the devastating 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. This demonstration of nature's power reminded him of the respect human beings should constantly have for nature.
“When I photograph, a mystic feeling comes over me. I sometimes admire the mysterious legends that are a part of Japanese folklore that express a fear of nature. I believe Waka also intends to capture this sort of fear of the mystic beauty of nature.”
On the other hand, the earthquake pushed him even more towards expressing the Japanese way of thinking and their view on life. Takehito Miyatake says, he is impressed by the people's strong will to stay in such a fragile country that experiences so many natural catastrophes.
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