A: Hello and thank you for inviting me. My name is Kiyo Murakami, and I am a freelance photographer and designer living in Tokyo. After I graduated from art school I continued experimenting with various art forms: illustration, design, music, etc., and discovered that I was able to best express my myself through the world of photography.

“Goddess of ‘Origami'”

A: Thank you very much. I shoot exclusively in RAW format and do all of my editing and manipulations in Photoshop CS5. At the moment, my primary camera gear consists of a Canon EOS 5D MkII body with lenses that include a 28-135mm zoom, a 50mm f1.4 prime lens and a 20mm f2.8 prime lens.

“Try Your Fortune”

A: To be honest, I’m not that familiar with famous photographers, though I have found inspiration in paintings, music, and movies – old paintings and classic films in particular, but my most creative ideas come from my childhood memories and dreams.

“Night Scented Girl 3”

A: If I am working alone (and depending upon the image) it can take up to 4 hours or longer for the shoot, with an additional 4 to 8 hours spent in post-processing. When I collaborate with someone else it usually takes considerably longer as we exchange ideas and work through drawings and rough sketches.

“Girl of the Flower Garden 3”

A: When I was little, I really loved surreal art because it can transport us to other worlds. Now, we can easily create that kind of art on the computer and while I still find it fun, I have come to place where I tend to be more thoughtful in my approach to my creation, and the concepts it leads me to.

“Girl of the Flower Garden 2”

A: Yes, I chose to surround myself with creative and talented friends whom I often collaborate with. As an example, I recently collaborated with Japan’s exclusive women’s corset brand: abilletage (www.abilletage.com), which led to a very exciting photo exhibition in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district.

“Night Scented Girl 2”

A: My best advice is have fun with your imagination – try to be creative without thinking too much about what photography is. I also believe that it’s very important to surround yourself with creative people and friends with whom you can share ideas and find mutual inspiration and support.

Girl of the Flower Garden 1

Fire Abide with Me

Image for “Abilletage” II

Night Dolls

Night Smoke

Little Bird

Symphony for the Corset

Dancing Slowly

Coming of Winter

Strings

I Dreamt of the Birds Flying

A Puff of Wind

Flying

Afternoon Clouds

A Little Night Music

Requiem

Love is in the Air

The World Swings Round

Emerging

Night Forest

Voice of the Wind

Fallen

Under Water

Spring Garden

Coming of Spring

Guidepost of the Sky

Melt in the Moment

Dress up for my Night

Good Morning to this Sad and Beautiful World

Her Innocence Hurts Herself

Above the Sleeping Town

The World is Hiding a Voice in the Throat

Girl Traveling Without Baggage

Sky Smoking

Old Memories Faade into the Rain

The Silence Drives Me Insane

Autumn

A Little Red Heart from Miles Away

The End of a Perfect Day

Rainy Days, I Caught Your Tears

You Lead Me to the Light

The Show is Over

Guardian

So Golden

Author: Giulia Giulia is a 25 year old girl from Romania. She runs a blog dedicated to cute animals on furrytalk.com . She's also an amateur photographer and has a passion for Photoshop.

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Asia is a fascinating continent to all the other parts of the world, by culture, traditions and customs. All these special features are reflected in art also, which has a unique and graceful feel. Today’s showcase proves it, by introducing a very talented artist from Japan. Kiyo Murakami combines photography and photo-manipulation into amazing pieces of art – she manages to create fantasy worlds that you can’t even dream of. We interviewed her and very kindly she agreed to share some thoughts with us. Here goes: