He who looks through the lens is also being seen by it.
Through photography, I gaze at the world.
And yet, at times I wonder— perhaps the world is gazing right back at me.
Born in Japan, I’ve lived and worked in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Vietnam, and India.
Not as a traveler passing through, but rooted in daily life—earning a living, building connections, learning the rhythms and silences of each place.
After returning to Japan, I set off alone on a journey across the country by motorcycle.
Under starlit skies and morning mist, I camped in open fields and photographed the land as if to rediscover it.
Perhaps I was capturing not just what I saw—but who I was.
Today, I work across diverse fields: public relations for local governments, advertising for companies, and storytelling through media, both print and digital.
In every assignment, there’s a voice waiting to be heard, a narrative longing to be seen.
Photography, to me, is not merely documentation— it’s a quiet form of dialogue.
Between light and shadow, between the seen and the unseen, between the world and the self.
To photograph is to listen. And sometimes, in that stillness, something passes between us— the subject and the observer, the lens and the soul.
I believe in that moment.
Shinji Totsune（戸恒慎司）
Full member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS) & Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association (APA)
