The People And Portraits Of Daria Kobayashi Ritch
All Images Taken By and Courtesy of Daria Kobayashi Ritch
Despite the attitudes and affirmations of everybody on vsco (remember vsco?), not everyone has a unique eye for photography.
If nothing else, the advent of pocket-size high-quality digital cameras/phones/internet machines has proven that any bourgeois idiot can take a pretty picture. Daria Kobayashi Ritch’s photographs aren’t just pretty; they carry meaning, context, perspective, grace, and humanity. When building out her body of work, the NYC/LA-based photographer is very good at avoiding superficiality and doesn’t seem to necessarily make attempts at beauty, rather through instinct and personal connection, her compositions simply form that way. Daria Kobayashi Ritch’s portraits are distillations of personalities and relationships that she builds with her subjects, making the imagery more vivid and the subjects more natural. Her photographs are clean and precise but dynamic and textured, storied and often solemn.
Having been featured in big timers like Vogue, GQ, i-D, and Harper’s Bazaar, and having photographed subjects like Karen O, Sydney Sweeney, Phoebe Bridgers, and Mia Goth, her work is glamorous and precise enough for high fashion, but also revealingly human. Her portraits show us glimpses of the person rather than just depictions of people, and because of that, we’ve all grown to be fans. As New York Fashion Week has just ended, this interview picks up right as we were talking about feeling awkward at the NYFW after parties.
—it’s just so the opposite of me, you know?
I get it. I don’t really go to many of them, to be honest. I have two friends that are designers who I consistently work with, and I go to their things (which I always enjoy), but besides that, I don’t really go to much fashion week events. I think I’m learning over time to stay true to what is authentic to me and what I enjoy versus what I think I should be doing or attending. Which usually leads me to do something more low-key with a friend.
Alright, let’s talk about your photography. You have a very specific perspective—one much more interesting than the boring ‘high-fashion’ glamor crap I’m used to seeing. Can you talk about how you developed that? What is your life story?
I entered and won my first photography competition when I was in 4th grade. I guess you could say it started there. The next big moment in my photography was my junior and senior year of high school when I did an independent study with the photographer duo Jennifer Cheung and Steven Nilsson. I spent every weekend over those two years working on a photography project that culminated in my first gallery show. The next big turning point came while I studied Fine Art at UCLA. This is where my view of photography really changed. The darkroom lab tech, Whitney Hubbs, took a special interest in me. At the time, I knew I wanted to do fashion, and my biggest inspiration came from the pages of Vogue magazine. Whitney started introducing me to a lot of different photographers like Nan Goldin and Corinne Day, and kind of explained that there is more to photography than just making a pretty image. What makes this image different from any other image of this person? I am really thankful for her because it completely changed the way that I saw things.
How so?
I stopped taking photos in the way of thinking, ‘Oh, I like this outfit,’ or ‘This is a pretty place.’ I started looking at who it was that I was putting in front of my camera and why they spoke to me, and I think that that’s been an important thing for me. I really like to get to know people, and I think that my favorite photographs are ones that are one-on-one interactions where I shoot with one person for a couple of hours. It’s a relationship- a friendship for those hours, and the photos capture that interaction.
What’d you do after UCLA?
I went to ArtCenter, which is where I learned more technical skills and how to run a business. I got my first fashion campaign the week I graduated and have been working full-time as a photographer for seven years now. I love being on set, collaborating, and I adore this community I’ve built.
Do you particularly like fashion?
I do! I like fashion. I think that fashion is where I belong, but when I’m on a fashion shoot, the clothes aren’t my top priority. My top priority is capturing the interaction that I’m having with the person. If that makes sense.
I really hear what you said about it not being enough to just make a pretty image. Especially in fashion, it’s difficult because you have to showcase the garment, but your photos don’t look like advertisements, they’re more interesting and narrative than that. Can you discuss some of your influences or who you look to for that kind of inspiration?
Ah, man, I’m always really bad at remembering people when I’m asked this question. I might need to come back to you. There are so many. As far as people who are currently working, I look to people like Harley Weir or Zoe Ghertner. One of my professors at ArtCenter was Paul Jasmin. He has been a huge influence and constant inspiration.
Do you shoot much for yourself? Just for fun?
I try to! That’s something that I’m working on a lot now. Not to talk about the pandemic because I’m sure you talk about it all the time, but that was a period where things slowed down, and in a moment, I kind of lost myself a bit. Before the pandemic, I was constantly working and had no time to think about anything other than work and that stop kind of forced me to take a step back and figure out what I like shooting for myself. I think I’m still trying to work that through a bit. I’ve been working on this personal project for a while, which is coming back to what I was doing when I first started, which is finding people who I am inspired by and trying to document them, ideally in their environment, for a couple of hours. I’m working on maybe putting out a book or something just to collect all of those images at the end because I have so many from even back when I first started.
You’ll probably expect this question, but what do you look for in a subject?
That’s a good question, hmm.
It’s always a hard question I think because you’re having to articulate something visual.
It is hard!
No one ever knows how to answer it.
It’s tough because it’s similar to when you’re looking at people to be friends with; you either have that connection, or you don’t. I think that the people that I get drawn to have a certain depth to them, like there’s something beyond the surface. They have an interesting story or a good sense of self, and I think I’m drawn to that because there are different types of photography; one way is to sort of impress their vision onto someone else and say, ‘This is the character that you are playing,’ but the way that I like to do it is by finding a person that I get a really strong sense of self from or whom I relate to, and then build around that person.
I think that so much talent is lost to an industry where we have amazing songwriters writing jingles and the best photographers shoot flatlays for restaurants—they aren’t able to utilize their inherent perspective and talent. When you are handed an industry job with rigid parameters, how are you able to maintain your sense of self and your perspective?
I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned over time is that I need to speak up and have a strong voice. I got to where I am sort of young and assumed that everyone else knew better than me. There were a lot of situations where these things were handed to me, and I didn’t have the confidence to, or maybe didn’t think that I had the ability to say how I felt. It took a while for me to be put in situations like that and say, ‘I think things should be this way.’ That comes with building a name for yourself, too. I’m lucky that I am now in a position where clients are open to dialogue because they’re hiring me based on my work, and I’m grateful for that. Obviously, there is always compromise, and that’s part of the job. I think just allowing myself to speak up and have those conversations has been really important.
There is more than likely a 19-year-old photographer who wants your job reading this interview. What would you tell them to do?
You can’t expect things to come to you. There are so many people with vision and talent. When I was at ArtCenter, I was in school, but I was also putting together test shoots and portraits of people that I thought were cool and submitting them to magazines or posting them on Instagram, interning- you have to be proactive and push for what you want. At least for me, I started getting jobs when I graduated because I had laid so much groundwork already. I think it’s also important to be true to who you are and your passions. I mean, I love photography. It isn’t just a job—it’s a passion and something that I have wanted to dedicate all of my time and resources to. I think that people see that dedication in someone, and jobs kind of follow.
How’s all this going?
It’s going really well. Like I said before, seven years in, I’m wondering what I’m doing and where I’m headed. I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to think that through and I think I’m coming out of it. It’s been a good growing period, and I’m really excited about where things are headed.
The lovely and talented photographer, Daria Kobayashi Ritch.
Check out Daria’s entire portfolio, here.