Satoki Nagata
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Satoki Nagata
Satoki Nagata blends street photography with fine art to create cerebral images that reveal the relationships and interconnectivity that shape life in the modern city. Informed by his Zen Buddhist upbringing and work as a neuroscientist, he understands the world as a vast network of connections and uses his photography to reveal the links that join everything in the world around us.
Satoki was born in Japan but moved to Chicago in 1992 and became immersed in capturing the lives and people of his adopted hometown. Since then he has completed a number of documentary projects in the city, attempting to deepen the connection between himself and his subjects with each new study. Huck caught up with Satoki to find out more about capturing life on the streets of the Windy City.
When and why did you start shooting pictures?
I took snapshots in high school, but I didn’t understand the depth of my interest at the time. Instead of art, I pursued a career in science and came to the states to complete my post-doc. For the better part of 20 years, I was satiated. However, I learned the limitations of my field. I found myself behind a camera again, this time with precision, and my passion took hold.
What cameras do you use and what do you like about them?
I mainly use Leica M8, M9, and M240. I like to use multiple cameras with varying focal lengths. Compared to a DSLR, they are smaller and lighter. In documentary work, this is always preferable. These are rangefinder cameras, offering fast and accurate manual focusing in difficult lighting conditions. I often use complex layers and reflections in my images so manual focusing is critical in such situations. I always set exposure manually and these cameras are easy to make adjustment.
What are you passionate about – interests, hobbies outside of photography – and how does this inform the images you take?
I enjoy meeting creative people, talking art, and plotting future productions.
Are you trying to tell stories with your images? What are those stories?
I strongly believe in photography as a truly communicative format, that gives rise to dialogs between photographer, subject, and viewer. I am always thinking what I want to communicate in an image. My main subjects are people living in the city, which is common in my street work and documentary. Although my images show specific moments, I try to allow interpretation on the part of the viewer. I want to show the complexity of people’s lives through my images.
How do you hope viewers engage with your photography?
Photography is about vision of photographer and viewer. I hope viewers discover the subtle—but substantial—moments of connection in my photographs and experience the world through my vision.
What are your plans for the future?
Currently, I am preparing to publish a book, a documentary film, and some beta-stage projects. I have an exhibition in Italy in October.
Find out more about Satoki’s work or discover new artists like him at Saatchi Art.
Latest on Huck
Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists
We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme
Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?
Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.
Written by: Emma Garland
How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography
The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth
Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The British intimacy of ‘the afters’
Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.
Written by: Ella Glossop