we smile when we want to

This project unfolded in response to public comments made against Shiori Ito, a Japanese journalist and filmmaker who won a high-profile civil lawsuit against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, her alleged rapist, in December 2019. Following the ruling, Yamaguchi continued to attack the validity of Ito’s claim by telling reporters that “real sexual assault victims do not smile at press conferences.”

I interviewed 11 people in Tokyo about their relationship to smiling, and took their portraits: whether smiling or un-smiling. The truth has and always will be held within the bodies who know, no matter how distorted it may become in public spaces. Here, in this project, subjects claim a space inside a photograph, however public or private, and in their own words, give truth back to themselves.

View the online version here — Metropolis Magazine | This project was also released in Metropolis Magazine’s print version, of which five subjects were featured.

An extended version to be released at a later date. Selected photos can be seen below.