For Kaede James Takamoto, photography is less about capturing a moment and more about building a feeling around it. A Queer Japanese-Australian photographer, her images intertwine the real and the surreal – shaped by collaboration, instinct and an interest in the layered nature of identity.

Living and working in Naarm (Melbourne), Kaede’s practice spans fashion, portraiture and conceptual image-making. Raised by two sculptors, she grew up surrounded by art and experimentation, a legacy that continues to inform her work today.

Her connection to Japan weaves through her practice. Though raised in Australia, regular visits to Kumamoto over the past fifteen years have created another sense of home – one built through small details and sensory memory. A maple tree planted by her mother, the sound of a temple gong at dusk and fruit cut carefully and offered with care.

Recent projects include a collaboration with ceramic artist Georgina Yen Qin, in which Kaede travelled to Dehua, China to document the making of her pieces across factories, workshops and surrounding landscapes, as well as a campaign for MUJI photographed alongside Helena Inez Abapo. At the centre of these projects is an interest in the space between art and commercial practice – where documentation, storytelling and imagination exist together.