Motoyuki Daifu

The Tokyo-based photographer Motoyuki Daifu takes the everyday domestic lives of family and friends as his primary subject matter, documenting moments of humor, banality, and grace within their cramped apartments. Marked by both intimacy and irreverence, the results suffuse the unremarkable with an infectious sense of optimism.

Infatuation was the impetus for Daifu's intensely personal series Lovesody, in which he ardently photographed a young pregnant woman with whom he fell deeply in love. Over a six-month period, Daifu turned his lens on the life of his lover, exploring the layered highs and lows of motherhood and urban living. Then the two broke up. The intimate portraits resist voyeuristic leanings, instead favoring a point of view that is protective, affectionate, and free of judgment.