Shooting between Japan and New York, Michael Piazza moves fast. Where other street photographers lean into either chaos or control, Piazza captures the bustle of megacity life as layered scenes where colour and movement create a cinematic experience.
Originally from the US, Piazza has a background in art and film that feeds into the way he sees the street, and gives his work a delicate balance between high-energy and carefully composed.
Now based in Japan, he loves to everything from centuries-old festivals to quiet, offbeat moments that feel pulled from somewhere between documentary and dream.
I got the chance to ask Michael a few questions about his style, shooting, and favourite shots.
As an introduction, what’s your most popular shot, and what’s the story behind it?
Thanks for having me, Branden! Well, if we go by internet math, the shot of the young Japanese guys at the festival is my most popular.
I took this shot in January 2025 at a festival called Tamaseseri, outside Japan’s largest southern city, Fukuoka, where I had just moved to at the time. Two teams of men and kids clad in only loinclothes fight for possession of a wooden ball (the “tama” in question), said to bring good fortune in the coming year, while getting splashed with water in the freezing cold. They’ve been doing Tamaseseri for 500 years. And, I have to emphasize how utterly cold it was. Some of the kids looked completely miserable, and others were clearly relishing the opportunity to prove their mettle.
As for the shot itself, I was trying to capture both the chaotic action of the festival as well as the boisterous emotion of the kids. I was happy with how the layering turned out, with the elements fairly well isolated – there’s a lot going on, but I think it still reads and you can still feel the emotion. I shot it on the Leica M11, and I’m pretty sure I was using a Voigtlander 35mm lens that day.
I have a few more from this festival I haven’t shared yet, but this shot I felt captured well the energy of that day.
It’s my favourite too, but what about the story behind a personal favourite?
If I’m allowed to pick a few from a series, I’m going with these shots from Taiwan:
In late 2024 I went to Taiwan for the first time, and while attempting a popular and straight-forward hike on Alishan mountain, I accidentally wandered onto this permitted (read: illegal) trail instead.
I wasn’t initially aware I was on the wrong hike and couldn’t read any of the signs in Mandarin telling me about how many people had fallen already this year, and so on, and before I knew it, I was half way through this incredibly treacherous walk that had you balancing on exposed, abandoned train bridges in the rain, scrambling through pitch blank tunnels for 20 minutes straight, and arriving ultimately at this derelict, fog shrouded train station that felt like something out of a Silent Hill horror video game. The views were incredible, and there was such an intense feeling of quiet and desolation. It may have ruined all other hikes for me.
Eventually, I figured out the people that were walking near me were something like park rangers, and I bartered my 7/11 tangerine for one of their walking sticks, which helped when the rain got worse.
Amazing stuff, inspires me to be more adventurous too. Have any photographers been inspiring you lately?
Too many to pick, but lately I’ve been inspired by the work of Soichiro Okamoto, a street photographer working out of Osaka. His work has this great energy and looseness, plus fantastic, unique colors. I always appreciate seeing street work that’s on the more experimental side of things.
Oh yeah, and you’re in the Fukuoka Street Photography Collective too,what’s that?
Fukuoka SPC are a group of photographers operating out of Fukuoka city that support one another’s work. Many cities have SPC chapters, but as a small city, Fukuoka lacks a larger community like you’d find in Tokyo or New York, so we few street shooters have to stick together. Fukuoka SPC was actually formed before I arrived in Fukuoka, and in the past has put on gallery shows and zines.
Fukuoka SPC is five of us in all: Alexander Muñoz,
William Fritsch, and myself. Shinji has won a bunch of awards this year!
Oh, do you have any gallery shows coming up?
While Fukuoka still has my heart, my physical being is based in Tokyo, for now. I’ve just exhibited some work with many super talented artists at Tokyo Streets in Ginza Hibiya Okuroji, but what’s next, who knows?
You can find more of Michael’s work on his Instagram, @piazzatron.