Yoshinori Mizutani's Tokyo Parrots series features an unlikely resident of the mega metropolis: tropical birds. Yoshinori Mizutani
Yoshinori Mizutani's Tokyo Parrots series features an unlikely resident of the mega metropolis: tropical birds.
The birds are actually ring-nosed parakeets, native to India and Sri Lanka. Yoshinori Mizutani
The birds are actually ring-nosed parakeets, native to India and Sri Lanka.
A major part of Mizutani's shooting approach is the use of synchronized flash. In this series, the effect flattens his frames and adds an eerie shadow to the flapping wings. Yoshinori Mizutani
A major part of Mizutani's shooting approach is the use of synchronized flash. In this series, the effect flattens his frames and adds an eerie shadow to the flapping wings.
A number of the birds were apparently brought into Tokyo as pets in the '70s and '80s. They quickly became something of a feral animal, now numbering in the thousands in various parts of Japan. Yoshinori Mizutani
A number of the birds were apparently brought into Tokyo as pets in the '70s and '80s. They quickly became something of a feral animal, now numbering in the thousands in various parts of Japan.
Mizutani first saw the parakeets in a tree some 60 meters from his house. Looking into their history, he became fascinated. Yoshinori Mizutani
Mizutani first saw the parakeets in a tree some 60 meters from his house. Looking into their history, he became fascinated.
I think it bothers the parrots to be photographed in the middle of the night while they’re sleeping," Mizutani says. "But because I’m shooting in pitch black, I have to use flash or else you won’t be able to see.” Yoshinori Mizutani
I think it bothers the parrots to be photographed in the middle of the night while they’re sleeping," Mizutani says. "But because I’m shooting in pitch black, I have to use flash or else you won’t be able to see.”
All of the photos in Tokyo Parrots were taken on the campus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where more than a thousand have apparently made homes out of the ginko trees. Yoshinori Mizutani
All of the photos in Tokyo Parrots were taken on the campus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where more than a thousand have apparently made homes out of the ginko trees.
Mizutani described the experience of seeing the parrots as similar to Hitchcock's Birds. Yoshinori Mizutani
Mizutani described the experience of seeing the parrots as similar to Hitchcock's Birds.
The best time to shoot the birds is either at dawn or dusk, when they are leaving or returning to sleep in the trees. Yoshinori Mizutani
The best time to shoot the birds is either at dawn or dusk, when they are leaving or returning to sleep in the trees.
Tokyo often appears in photographs as a metropolis awash in light and color. Usually it’s neon signs or bright streetlights, but sometimes its something unusual, like the green flash of a flock of parakeets. Photographer Yoshinori Mizutani captures all of these things as he wanders the city seeking inspiration in things he might not understand—like, say, that flock of parakeets.
“I want to take photographs which capture something beyond my own ideas,” he says. “The times when I do have a set theme that I want to shoot, I think about exactly what I will photograph and how I will photograph it. Once I’ve decided those things, I head to the location and set about earnestly taking pictures.”
His Tokyo Parrots series started that way. He grew intrigued by a small flock of colorful rose-ringed parakeets flying in and out of a tree near his home in Shibuya. He soon found the birds, native to India and Sri Lanka, are interlopers in Tokyo. They trace their lineage to pets released in the 1970s and ’80s; thousands now live throughout Japan. “When I actually went to the roosting site, it was an incredible scene to behold. That’s when I decided that I should photograph them.”
Mizutani says the feeling he got from these foreboding flyers reminded him of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film, The Birds. They’re especially fond of the ginko trees on the Tokyo Institute of Technology campus. All of the photos in Tokyo Parrots were taken there over the course of a year. The photos also reveal Mizutani’s preference for flash. In addition to illuminating the birds, the synchro flash creates a momentary shadow in the flapping wings. It’s an eerie effect.
The aesthetic in his work is crisp and surreal, and what might appear to be a missed or overexposed shot is in fact a cleverly composed and stylized image. Shot either on a Canon 5D MkIII or a 7D, the shadows of a building or the flapping wings of a bird become embossed and flattened, making the image look like a compressed diorama. “I use flash most of the time; flash photography is my style,” he says. “I think it bothers the parrots to be photographed in the middle of the night while they’re sleeping, but because I’m shooting in pitch black, I have to use flash or else you won’t be able to see.”
Mizutani has concluded his Parrots series, but keep an eye out for his other work. He continues exploring his cities in series like Colors , snapping photos of any curious thing that catches his fancy. “On location, there are times when something unexpected will be there or will occur, so I just try to take a lot of photographs,” he says.
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