Harajuku in Los Angeles - Garage Studio Portraits (2022-ongoing)

My work is rooted in an affection for culture and place. These interests converged when I first encountered Harajuku fashion. In 2015, I met Angeleno J-fashion dressers at an international fashion walk in Downtown Los Angeles. Their imaginative streetwear captivated me—blending styles while remaining grounded in Japanese fashion subcultures and expressing kawaii, the aesthetic of cuteness.

This encounter led to Harajuku in Los Angeles, an ongoing portrait project celebrating Harajuku-inspired individuals and self-expression.

For Harajuku in Los Angeles: Garage Studio Portraits, I invite J-fashion enthusiasts into a makeshift studio—a car garage, reflective of Los Angeles car culture—set alongside the monthly Harajuku Day LA meetups. Harajuku Day brings together a welcoming and diverse J-fashion community. Presented as diptychs, these portraits highlight the performative aspects of Harajuku fashion, featuring individuals and friends representing a range of styles—decora, fairy-kei, Lolita, party-kei, and more—as they express identity through dress.

Series Background: Across the multi-series, I photographed over 80 members of Los Angeles’s Harajuku community and interviewed numerous individuals. Harajuku (原宿), a Tokyo neighborhood, is a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion. Spiriting FRUiTS Magazine (1997-2017)—the Japanese street-style digest tied to Harajuku’s youth—my Harajuku in Los Angeles series chronicles the creative street fashion and spirit of Los Angeles’ J-inspired individuals.

Thank you to the Los Angeles’ Harajuku community and Harajuku DayLA for their support.