Meet Tomoyuki Shioya. The 32 year-old spends his days at a corporate job. In his free time, he enjoys his hobby: Taking photos in those head-in-a-hole boards. To date, he has over two thousand photos of them. They are fantastic.
Heâs always on the look out for a new entry in his collection. âI can never tell where I may find one,â Shioya recently told The Japan Times. (Note: Iâm a columnist for The Japan Times.) He travels around Tokyo and the rest of Japan, looking for cut-out holes to pose with.
What makes Shioyaâs photo so wonderful isnât just the silly boards, but his deadpan expression.
âPeople think itâs just a comic foreground and hit the shutter in a carefree manner,â he said. âBut I want my photos taken with care.â
His Twitter accountâwhich is truly fantasticâis always filled with his latest head-in-a-hole board pic. So far, heâs shown in his photos in magazines, appeared in newspapers, and is working on a photobook. He even judges a local cut-out board competition in Hokkaido.
But surely, after all these years and all those photos, he must get bored with this hobby?
âThere are numerous comic foregrounds in Japan. You can find all kinds of settings and designs,â he said. âI never get tired of them.â
And you know what? Neither do I.
Below, you can see an array of photos from Shioyaâs Twitter page. If you like them, dofollowhim!
[All photos: Tomoyuki Shioya]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft
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