Honorable Mention / 2024 / Portraiture / Culture

Condiment BFF

  • Photographer
    Joseph Lai, Taiwan
  • Instagram

I spotted these two friends strutting their stuff in condiment-inspired fashion in Tokyo. The one on the left wore a mustard-yellow kimono with salt-white boots, while her friend wore a ketchup-red kimono and black pepper boots. Their outfits added some spice to the mix on a miserable rainy day.

This color combination exemplifies the Japanese culture and its love for vibrancy.

The street photography god was looking out for me that day.

I was born in Taiwan and raised in New York. After receiving my MBA from New York University, I returned to Asia where I worked and lived in Shanghai before co-founding a public relations firm with my wife in Taiwan. We work with luxury brands in the fashion, beauty, automotive, and alcohol/spirit industries.

I found passion in street/documentary photography during the pandemic and like to explore the urban scene for content.

I am inspired by photographers such as Rinko Kawauchi, Raymond Depardon, Jesse Marlow, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Evgenia Arbugaeva, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Andreas Gursky, etc.

Awards New York Photography Awards 2023 - Silver, People Photography, Street.
New York Photography Awards 2023 - Silver, Nature Photography, Sunset.
Annual Photography Awards 2023 - Honorable Mention, People, Streetlife.
Tokyo International Foto Awards 2023 - Honorable Mention