"Belief" by Bill Downey!

The super talented photographer/artist Bill Downey produced this amazing image!! Please click to see a bigger version of the image :D

(photo: Bill Downey, hair: Brandon Welti, make-up: Mihoko Hakata)

It all started when Bill decided to support Japan by donating a piece to the benefit party called "Art for Japan," which is happening on May 6th. I submitted my pictures right away when I saw his posting asking for a model for this meaningful project. I wanted to support Japan in any possible ways. We talked on the phone and I just felt so comfortable with his great energy :D

Arrived at Bill's house. He even chose a Japanese radio station for me, so that I can feel at home, which he succeeded in doing :) He has a living space on the first floor, the second floor is a photo studio and the third floor space is for make-up and hair. What a great set-up! 

After a long creative conversation with Bill, he wanted us to re-create the hair and the make-up we did for I Heart Japan gallery show. Here are pictures of Brandon painting on my hair after he amazingly stood my hair up in the bathroom!

Brandon likes this picture of himself :P He looks very dedicated! 

And me working on my eye make-up. I love the red accents in this picture which Bill captured:

I didn't imagine doing a geisha make-up, which is my first time, and wearing a kimono, far away from home, in the United States! Thank YOU, genius Ben, for choosing this white face paint for me! ;D

I felt very close to my origin yet at the same time far away from my origin. I felt close because I could feel all the steps women had to go through to dress up, and I felt far because this was my first time to try it even though I am from Japan. Thank You So Much, Bill, for taking these pictures! They look like from a movie scene!

Here, I am getting directions from Bill. He is so wonderful to work with!! He has a cristal-clear vision, gives you precise directions, and says "You are doing great jobs!" which I love to hear ;P

Bill chose a black kimono, which is I rented from my sweet friend Dawn, thank YOU Dawn!!, because he wanted to focus on my facial expression.

The most challenging parts of this shooting was that Bill wanted to capture my emotions, such as sadness, hope, strength, thinking of my parents, even crying...! Oh my, I felt like an actress! This is very challenging because I felt like I am emotionally naked which is more difficult than physically naked.
These days, when I think of my parents and friends in Japan or read newspaper articles of Japan, I start crying so this shouldn't be so difficult for me but in front of camera, you feel a pressure! As you know, my neutral face is smiling, so this was a new level for me! I was happy he didn't choose a picture of me crying for the final version though :P

For the final image, he placed the Japanese sun-ray next to my energetic sun-ray hairstyle. What a great idea! Also, if you click the image to enlarge, you will notice the Japanese character "信念" on the bottom right, which means "Belief" in Japanese. The word and my facial expression work together perfectly!!

Thank You Sooo Much for this amazing evening, Bill!! I am very happy to have met you! :D

It was such a creative, emotional and meaningful project to me. I am really honored to be a part of this project...!

We finished our super fun preparation & photoshoot at midnight, which I couldn't believe it's been 6 hours since we arrived!! Time just flew by super fast!

Before leaving his house, Bill gave me a gorgeous white rose with sweet aroma (in this picture it looks pink, maybe she was blushed because I was taking many pictures of her!).
He said, he gives a flower to every model after a photoshoot. What a sensitive sweet man he is! :D Look, this flower has miracle twin babies!! ;D

Here is the poster for "Art for Japan" party!

Even though I was too late to submit my own artwork, (they quickly received 50 artworks and now it's full), I am so thrilled to be a part of the event!! Please stop by if you are free on Friday, May 6th, 6-9 pm :D