I was born in Tokyo, Japan. I received a B.A. at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, and worked as a freelance photographer until I moved to New York in 2004. Now I am in an M.F.A. program in City University of New York, Hunter College.

Since I started semi-immigrant life, I have experienced two worlds, with two different cultures and systems: that of Tokyo/Japan and that of New York. I came to perceive things in both of these worlds by comparing each one. In my work, the presence of certain objects questions my memories, and my understanding, or lack thereof, of the world I inhabit.

Then I met Tara Cronin, the sitter in this portrait. She is a half-Korean, half-Irish and was born and raised in the United States. She says that she felt isolated when she was little, but she now feels that she has no specific cultural background.

Her story inspired me to make the work and brought up a question. What will be happening in the world—especially with cultures, lives, appearances, and identity—in the future? Thinking of what has happened in the world during a century, I imagine the world 100 years from now, where immigration will have further progressed through environmental, political, and economic means.

Creating her portrait was a chance to start a dialogue on the past, present, and future with people whom I have met here.

I enjoy exploring environmental portraits with photography. I use architectural spaces and arrange a sitter's personal items that can tell more about his or her life, interests, identity, and so forth. I hope to document the sitter's state of mind with his or her facial expression and gestures in his or her living space, and try to create an experience of a moment that is in between everyday life and the extraordinary.

All images © Satomi Shirai, 2009