Canycom Inc. for TRUe Magazine

One of the best things that can happen on an assignment is when you work with wonderful people on multiple occasions. That’s exactly what happened when I worked with the fine folks of Chikusui Canycom Inc. once again!

I’d previously photographed sections of their factory for the TRUMPF Group’s Annual Report. This time, I photographed Hitoshi Kaneyuki, the company’s Chairman, for issue 16 of the TRUMPF Group’s customer magazine, TRUe. The wonderful people at the BrandsOnSpeed agency got in touch after seeing my images, and we discussed the best way to make the photos pop!

The article was about the company’s future and its ethos that its products should be functional and fun. This idea is seen in their ride-on brush cutter, the Masao. Different from most lawnmowers, this brightly coloured vehicle takes its design cues from racecars. Once I saw it, I knew I had to use it in the photos.

Even though we didn’t have much time with him, Chairman Kaneyuki was very energetic and willing to try out the ideas I had in mind.

This image was the very first one I visualized. Once I saw the vibrant red of the Masao, I immediately thought of the best way to emulate this iconic poster from the classic film Akira. I changed the direction of movement so we could see the Chairman’s face and placed a light in a softbox camera-left to add some fill light to the scene. Then I climbed a few meters up on a ladder to get the shot lined up. In the end, it’s my favourite photo from that day!

We took various photos of the Chairman riding and posing with the Masao and told him to do whatever felt comfortable. Thankfully he was very dynamic, and his personality shone through. 

We also walked along the factory floor and documented the process of building parts and assembling the vehicles. 

All in all, it was a successful shoot day, and I’m proud of the images we produced! 


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