My Sensei - Keita Tokuda

I spent a few days with a photographer, who's two years my junior, to learn a few photography tricks from him.

I knew this opportunity doesn't come along each day and so, I grabbed it 'cos he's leaving Malaysia for his homeland, Japan, in July or August this year, 2010. 

It felt weird when I was with him 'cos he was certainly a more mentally sophisticated guy than I am. Even at my age, I felt 'small' when I talked to him.

I've been to places, NYC and San Francisco, Sydney, Bangkok and Chiangmai, Bali and Jakarta, Hanoi, and Dubai, but I discovered that I don't view the world as differently as he does.

Obviously, he's learnt enormous amounts from his trips around the world.



He has an eye for details and is very analytical. But definitely not critical, at least not on me.

When I got frustrated for not being able to take good photos, he told me, "Even professional photographers don't take good photos all the time."

What uplifting words!

Once, when I asked him if the photo I'd taken was beautiful. He looked at it, and hesitantly said, "OK".

I knew that look on his face and so, I demanded for an explanation as to why he didn't think the photo was good.

Instead of explaining, he told me to look at the photo again and asked, "Does this look beautiful to you?"


"Yeah" I answered, almost immediately.

"Beauty is viewed differently by each individual," he explained.

And, I had nothing else to say but to agree to what he had said.

Just as the saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

There are so many adjectives I can use to describe him - jolly, kind, passionate, opinionated, wise, thrifty, meticulous and casual - just to state a few. 

He was always clad in the same T-shirts, from Magnum Photos, where he used to do his internship, and paired with a short pants or jeans and sandals.

For a person who's been to Southeast Asia, Italy, Paris, Egypt, New York, Korea, Australia and now in London, he's way too humble and casual.

He won an award in an exhibition a few years back and was the youngest contestant among 700 others below the age of 35 in the competition; both amateurs and professionals.

(Pic: Me trying hard to capture a photo with Keita's rare film camera, which he used to capture his award-winning photo collection)

"700 people and you won the award," I said in amazement.

"Yes, and I was the youngest...but I got the award," laughing uncontrollably.

He won the award (and a large sum of $$) for his collection of 28 wonderful photos he'd taken while he was travelling around Southeast Asia.

Here are 5 of the 28 photos:

[From top to bottom: Angkor Wat (Cambodia), ChiangMai (Thailand), Somewhere in Vietnam, Border of South-North Korea, Great Wall of China (China)]

"In your opinion, why did you win?" I asked.

"Theme", he said in a mild Japanese accent, "was different."

"OK," I said, "but your theme is 'tourism in general', so what makes yours more significant?"

"Other photographers, they didn't have a theme for their collection. They took the pictures they wanted to take. There was no theme or topic."

He said, the other contestants might have the perception that pictures should be beautiful.

"They admire only beauty."

"But, it's not. Beauty and expression are equally important," he continued. "My teacher says, expression and beauty are both equally very important in photography."

He looks up to his teacher, so much so that his teacher is his idol.

Keita aims to have another exhibition in Japan or Paris next year, displaying the photos he's taken in Malaysia.

But his primary aim is to become one of the best photographers in the world.

Ganbatte Kudasai, Keita!


(Note: All photos were taken by Keita Tokuda)