People :Winner of the Waseda Photo Contest 2005
Mr. Hidetsugu Shimakura

Mr. Hidetsugu Shimakura Born 1983 in Gifu Prefecture. Graduated from Ena High School. Fourth Year of the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II (Evening Division). His hobbies are photography and music.

Last year Hidetsugu Shimakura took a photo of a member of the Cheerleading Club standing firmly erect, eyes front, at the side of Building No. 2 on the Nishi-Waseda Campus. The caption was “A junior member's place in the club”. He entered the photo in the contest simply because he thought it would be a good opportunity to publicize one of the countless pictures he had taken. To his surprise, it was awarded the Grand Prix. Since entering the university four years he had shot 400 rolls of film and taken 30,000 digital pictures. He'd saved and scrimped on food and clothes and spent most of his money on photography. The Grand Prix was the reward for his labors.

Hidetsugu is a photographer for the Waseda Guardian English newspaper club. Another photographer for the Waseda Guardian sparked his passion for photography. “The pictures I took” said Hidetsugu, “tended to be a little too pretty and well organized. It was his unique viewpoint that helped me come this far.” Hidetsugu wants to be a professional photographer in the future. He's particularly interested in photo-journalists who have to combine creativity with impartial observation. Working for the Waseda Guardian, his job has been taking photos needed for news articles.

At one time he dreamed of being a painter. The theory of painting he learned from his art instructor still comes in handy when taking pictures. Having been good at both painting and photography ever since junior high school, entering an art school would have been the natural choice. Instead he decided to attend the Waseda Open Campus event for no better reason than, “a nice teacher in my high school was a Waseda graduate.” According to Hidetsugu, “Some tough-looking students from the Waseda Guardian made me buy a copy of Waseda Damashii.” That was the beginning of his campus life. “I've been lucky to meet so many good people, and I'm grateful to them for their support”, he said.

A photo captures the relationship between a photographer and his subject. “Through the viewfinder I can feel the trust the subject has in me to take a good picture. Because of the way I look, people become cautious when I try to take a picture of them. I wish I were more handsome and stylish!” A strange thing to say, as Hidetsugu seems more than sufficiently charming and attractive. Through the lens of his camera we can capture the beauty of the fleeting and irreplaceable moments of our lives.

the grand prix picture at the Waseda photo contest 2005 “A junior member�fs place in the club” (a member of the Cheerleading Club taken at the side of Building No. 2 on the Nishi-Waseda Campus)