Yuta Matsumura

Thank you! I'm Matsumura, the representative of PHOTOPRI!

In an era where photographs and illustrations are increasingly consumed digitally, I am a photographer who started a printing shop because I wanted people to experience the excitement of finished prints.

Achievements

Click here to view data taken at work in the past.

Career

From here I would like to write about my career, so if you are interested in reading it, I would appreciate it if you would stick with me until the end.

The shoe part is long because I need shoes to talk about who I am as a person... .

My dream for the future is to become a shoemaker.

I was a child with many dreams.

When I was in the lower grades of elementary school, I wanted to make apple pie for my mother, which she said she loved, so I said I wanted to become a cake maker and ate lots of cake.

When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I loved sushi and decided to become a sushi chef, so I ate a lot of sushi.

When I was in 5th or 6th grade, my mother encouraged me to become a doctor, so I aspired to become a veterinarian...

I was a child with many dreams.

By the way, I had gained a little weight because I was eating so much.

When I entered junior high school, I joined the basketball club and read Slam Dunk and Ahiru no Sora like templates, and that's when I became addicted to Air Jordans.

However, his athletic nerves were disastrous, and he was extremely uncomfortable with the hierarchical relationship with his seniors, so he stopped joining the basketball club after about six months, and all that remained was the homecoming club, which was addicted to "Jordan."

However, it was here that I realized that I wanted to join Nike, the company that developed Air Jordan, and vaguely aspired to become a shoe maker .

From then on, he became a boy who took screenshots of various sneakers during class and saved them, and regularly frequented sneaker shops in Harajuku.

When I entered high school, I wanted to learn more about shoe designs, so I started dabbling in men's and women's shoes.

Around this time, I went to a used clothing store in Koenji and met Dr.martins .

Honestly, I thought it was unique.

Slightly rugged rubber sole, glossy polished upper, iconic yellow stitching

Every design is iconic and makes you think, ``These aren't boots, they're Dr.martins shoes.''

A comfortable shoe designed by Dr. Martin that reduces the load on your feet.

I thought that both the hardware and software were excellent products.

This is where my dream of becoming a shoemaker and owning my own brand was solidified, rather than sneakers.

After graduating from high school, I continued to work part-time while attending a shoe making class (not a specialty class, but one with a monthly fee system).

work as a cameraman

That was when I was about 20 years old.

Apparently, the company that owned the restaurant where I was working part-time at the time was looking for a photographer because they were starting a new business, a photo studio, and I was the one they approached based on my appearance.

It had a strong subculture feel.

Although I had never held a camera in my hands, I joined the company thinking that it would help me hone my sensibilities.

This is the biggest event of my life,

I contracted a disease called ``abscess-forming appendicitis'' from the pressure of creating a website (WIX), preparing a store, setting up a studio, opening social media, etc.

This is the final evolution of the so-called "cecum," where a large amount of pus had accumulated in the cecum, and it was on the verge of exploding, almost exploding into the body.

I'm sure I'll never be in a situation where I have to lie down on a train because I feel like I have a constant stomach ache.

I was suddenly admitted to the hospital, underwent surgery, and my life in the hospital, which I thought was the most peaceful time of my life, began, but it was over within a few days.

After being discharged from the hospital, he immediately returned to work, studied under an outside professional photographer, and was trained in the basics of studio photography in about a week.

The reason I only had one week was because I was unreasonably forced to start the service from zero 1.5 months after joining the company, and I was hospitalized...lol

I managed to open the studio safely and was in charge of attracting customers while working as a cameraman.

After a year, my camera skills became tolerable, and I felt the need to learn marketing with the premise of creating a shoe brand in the future, so I changed jobs.

So, while I changed jobs to a company that operated pubs as a photographer, I worked in the marketing department, focusing on design work including photography, attracting customers, planning, and illustrations.

To the world of printing

At that time, my father fell ill with cancer and I had to help out at my family's printing business as a side job.

There, I came into contact with large-format printing called B0 Novi , approximately 1.5 x 1.1 m in size.

To be honest, I used to work as a photographer, but I wasn't actively working as a writer, and I only got into printing at my parents' printing business, but I was overwhelmed by the power of the B0-size works.

Having a physical form as a piece of work makes it more persuasive, and it's easy to see if you've cut corners.

I think only those who have actually experienced it can understand the experience of seeing the fine details stretched out before your eyes, something that cannot be expressed on a palm-sized display.

We started this service under the name "PHOTOPRI" in order to allow more people to experience such excitement.