Daily Inspiration: Meet Yoko Morimoto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoko Morimoto

Hi Yoko, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I was raised in a beach town in Japan, close to Tokyo. When I was younger, I was curious about other cultures and how people lived elsewhere. I decided to come to LA as a high school foreign exchange student and graduated from Chatsworth High School. After graduation, I returned to Japan and landed a job as a photography studio assistant in Tokyo, primarily handling fashion magazine shoots. During this time, I learned photography while working as an assistant. Despite this, I still missed sunny California, so I decided to move back to LA. While working as an assistant for a photographer and at a famous photo lab in LA, I learned a lot about post-production. The workplace specialized in film, and I was fortunate enough to observe the work of top photographers. Eventually, I started shooting on my own, collaborating with local business owners and having opportunities to photograph top athletes, amazing artists, and many other inspiring people. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I faced many challenges along the way and had to learn a lot on my own. When I first arrived, I struggled to learn English. I took everything literally; for example, when someone said, ‘What’s up?’ I would look up at the sky, and when someone said, ‘No way,’ I thought it meant the road ended. These are funny stories now, but coming from a country where the language is not Latin-based, it took me a while to learn English. As far as work and getting into the photography community, I had to navigate and learn a lot independently. Fortunately, I have amazing friends, colleagues, and supportive people around me who helped me overcome these challenges. Additionally, nowadays, you can learn anything from YouTube, Google, and AI, which has been incredibly helpful. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a still photographer specializing in lifestyle and drone photography, and I also love to create art photography. I am proud of telling the stories of many people from various walks of life, and my art photography is something I take great pride in as well. I create conceptual images, striving to recreate the visions I see in my mind as two-dimensional images. 

Additionally, I work for Japanese publications, interviewing people in America, writing articles, and translating them into Japanese. Because of this work, I have met incredible people. One of my most memorable experiences was staying at Standing Rock in South Dakota for three weeks, where I interviewed people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in freezing November weather. This work for a Japanese online magazine allowed me to bridge cultures by interviewing people in America and translating their stories into Japanese. I aimed to spread the word about what was happening at Standing Rock, the Native American tribes, and highlight environmental issues to the other side of the world. I have a passion for learning about other people’s stories and sharing them through my photography and writing. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I loved to ride my bicycle when I was young. Back then, bicycles in Japan had locks on the front wheel. When I was seven years old, I lost the key while I was out playing on my bike. At the time, I had an old-school pair of roller skates in my bicycle basket. I put one of the roller skates under the front wheel, tied it, and kept riding my bike. I thought I did a great job keeping my bike going. I felt like I was MacGyver. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @yoko.m_art_photo. @yoko_morimoto_photography
• Other: https://www.yokomorimoto.com

Image Credits
Yoko Morimoto Photography