What is my greatest passion in my work?
Creating photographs that make someone pause and feel something before they can explain why. Fashion gives me an extraordinary language: clothes, bodies, light, movement. I use it to explore very human things, such as hope, vulnerability, solitude or connection. I love when an image is beautiful enough to draw you in, then gives you a reason to stay.
What is my greatest fear?
Losing my curiosity. Becoming so comfortable with what I know that I stop looking properly. Experience is valuable, but I would hate to reach a point where every photograph feels like something I have already made. I still want a person, a place or an unexpected detail to change my mind.
What do I love most about my work?
The connection with the person in front of my camera. Giving them warmth, attention and love, and feeling them gradually relax, open up and enjoy the moment we are sharing. There is something deeply moving about someone trusting you enough to let themselves be seen. That connection is what I love most, and what I want my photographs to carry. For me, photographing someone is an act of love.
What is my greatest pitfall?
I get emotionally involved. A project follows me home, and sometimes into the middle of the night. I can spend a long time searching for a detail that almost nobody else will notice. That involvement helps my work, but I am learning that finishing something also means knowing when to let it go.
What does the statement “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?
After more than twenty years in photography, I still get excited about an image I haven’t made yet. There is always another encounter, another story, another way to work with light. I can imagine changing my pace as I grow older. I find it much harder to imagine looking at something beautiful and no longer wanting to photograph it.
What would I like to change about myself?
I would like to be a little kinder to myself. When your work is personal, it is easy to confuse a difficult professional period with a judgement on your worth. I would also like to enjoy what I have finished before immediately wondering how the next project could be better. Even for five minutes. That would be progress.
What is my greatest professional achievement so far?
Building a life around photography after having had other professional lives. My path was not a straight line, and I am proud of having followed it. Seeing my work published in titles such as L’Officiel and Harper’s Bazaar has been meaningful. So has teaching photography for more than ten years and helping others develop confidence in their own vision.
Where would I most like to live and work?*
Between France and Japan. Paris is deeply connected to my life as a fashion photographer, but my attachment to Japan is rooted in the philosophy of martial arts: learning to be present, to pay attention, and to understand that there is always more to learn. These values resonate with the way I approach both people and photography. My martial arts school is in Shiba, and I dream of living nearby for a chapter of my life, practising and allowing that experience to shape my everyday life and my work. The thought of settling in Japan keeps returning to me. I would love to give that dream a real place in my life.
What is my most distinctive characteristic?
Probably the combination of sensitivity and determination. I can be deeply moved by a small gesture and extremely stubborn about getting a photograph right. I take the people I work with seriously, and I care about the atmosphere we create together. I also have a sense of humour. It is quite useful when everyone is tired and the light is disappearing.
What is the place outside my home where I get my best ideas?*
Walking among trees, away from a screen. I am drawn to the way light changes a place and to the stories we begin to imagine when we stop trying to be productive. Sometimes a texture, a shadow or the shape of a branch becomes the beginning of a whole photographic series.
Which books have influenced my life and how?*
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry would be one. Its attention to affection, responsibility and the things we fail to see feels close to what I look for in a portrait. In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki would be another, for its sensitivity to darkness, texture and suggestion. As a photographer, I am interested in how much we can feel without being shown everything.
“You Only Die Once” — what music would I like to listen to on my last day?*
“Unstoppable” by Sia. Something with enough energy to make me want to dance, surrounded by the people I love. I would want laughter, movement and the joy of being together. And yes, choosing “Unstoppable” for my last day would be my little joke with the universe.
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?*
Miyamoto Musashi, as portrayed in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi. What moves me is his journey towards understanding himself. Through martial arts, he learns to question his pride, confront his weaknesses and pay closer attention to the world around him. That resonates deeply with me: the idea that a lifetime of practice goes far beyond mastering a technique. It shapes the person you become. I recognise something of that journey in photography, where learning to see also means learning about yourself.
Who are my real-life heroes and heroines?
People who keep caring when life gives them every reason to close themselves off. Carers, parents, teachers, friends who remain present when things become difficult. Having worked in emergency services before photography, I have a great respect for people who take responsibility for others. So much of what holds us together happens quietly, without an audience.
Which film would I recommend everyone to watch at least once in their lifetime?*
After the Rain. It speaks to something I deeply value in martial arts: the way practice can shape how we treat others. I am touched by its humanity, by the quiet strength of a man who remains kind even when life is difficult. There is dignity in his humility and generosity in the way he moves through the world. It reminds me that the person we become matters as much as anything we achieve.
What does the statement “I am the storyteller of my own life” mean to me?
My life has already taken several directions, and photography became a central part of it along the way. That reminds me that I can still begin something new. I cannot decide everything that happens, but I can make choices about what I create, who I work with and where I put my energy. There are still chapters I am curious to discover.
What role do stories play in my life and work?
A story often begins before I pick up the camera. It might come from mythology, a conversation, a place or something I cannot quite put into words. It guides the casting, styling, light and gestures. I like photographs that leave space for the viewer’s own interpretation. Recently, filmmaking and AI have given me further ways to explore those stories, while photography remains the foundation of my eye.
Which project am I most looking forward to?
A photographic series inspired by Samhain, set in the fire-scarred areas of the forest of Fontainebleau. Through dark, sensual black-and-white images, I want to explore our fragility and our dependence on nature. I imagine the presence of a human body among those wounded trees, bringing our shared vulnerability into view. It is a project where fashion, mythology and something deeply intimate can meet.
Who would I like Peter to invite to tell their Passion Never Retires story?*
My friend Lia Kemendi, a ballerina, model and choreographer. Her story is one of courage and determination, and I believe it could inspire people to keep going and believe in their own path, even when things feel difficult. I would love for more people to discover the person behind the artist.
How can people contact me?
Through my website, www.isshogaiphoto.com, or on Instagram, @isshogai.
For a photographic commission, an editorial collaboration, an exhibition, or simply a conversation about an image that stayed with you, I would be happy to hear from you. A good project often begins with a very ordinary hello.
Isshogai
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isshogai/