Shinjiro Atae
For Japanese pop idol Shinjiro Atae, I was brought on to capture still photography during production of his music video for his most recent single Into the Light, portraits for publicity use and social media, and images documenting a private event he hosted in July of 2023 where he announced to his fans, and the world, that he is a gay man. This news was especially unprecedented for a celebrity of his caliber in Japan but Shinjiro was determined to finally be able to live his truth and be the role model that he never had.
One of the images from the video clip production was used for the single cover art, and many of the images from both the video shoot and the event were used in articles about his coming out, including in Teen Vogue, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, Glaad, Gen V Magazine, and others.