|
Originally Posted by fry_a
My first hand at translation... Please be forgiving!
-----
Working Best with Hamasaki Ayumi
"In my three years of working with Hamasaki Ayumi, the two of us have managed to come up with many wonderful and original ideas, regardless of time and place. I'm on very good terms with her and her manager. When she is most in need of high quality work, I'm there to deliver and create special images for her to portray, hence the deep trust she has in me. Our partnership is reminiscent of that between Zhang Yimou (famous Chinese director) and Gong Li (famous Chinese actress who's also very beautiful) back then, in which one serves as the other's muse."
"Prior to the shooting the cover of her 'RAINBOW' album, Hamasaki Ayumi had won her second Golden Disc award. She felt that her life was like a rainbow, with each colour representing a different stage of her life. I drew inspiration from the concept of white light being a mixture of the different colours of the rainbow and decided to have transparency as the theme for the album's cover. She was practically naked for the shoot, which was a bold move considering her superstar status. After all, being so popular, she shouldn't reveal too much of her body to the public eye. Unlike Mo Wenwei (also known as Karen Mok, famous Hong Kong singer), whose raw image fits her to a T, Hamasaki Ayumi will always be a fantasy to her fans. That is the way she is being marketed by her record company. By maintaining a sense of distance between her and her fans, there is greater anticipation."
Last-Minute Inspiration
Innovators are always looking to better their own personal bests, to push the bar that much higher. After completing an assignment, how does Leslie prepare for his next project?
"At the end of May, I did a photo shoot for Hamasaki Ayumi's new single. I'd listen to her single, but there's no need to prepare everything to the smallest detail. The longer the preparation time, the greater the feel of orderliness and rigidity. Last-minute inspiration is better."
"I'm full of ideas and inspiration, possibly because of all the sights I've seen and experiences I've accumulated. I can visit fifty destinations in a year. In the last decade, I've visited Nepal four to five times. India, Tibet, Nepal and Paris have given me lots of inspiration. Earlier this year, I visited Mongolia and more recently, I went to Nepal to do a photo shoot for Kikkawa Kouji (Japanese singer). It was for a photo book meant to celebrate his twentieth anniversary as an artiste."
|
4th June 2004, 04:30 AM
Hybrid Mode
