Meet Mark Kuroda: Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Kuroda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I believe success to be a balance of three things, focusing on the right things, having a great attitude, and doing my best. It’s a delicate balance, there are a lot of people I see hustling, putting in really long days, and making the same mistakes over and over. I see it as I first need to understand the rules of the game, then can proceed forward. Just making good imagery isn’t enough, but who are the people with the hiring abilities, and understanding the structure of how the advertising world works. But that alone isn’t enough… there have been also who mistake being hard edged with being successful, and I find the people who go the furthest, are kind. Kindness allows for others to risk, to do their best work, it also garners trust, and being on the hiring side, I weigh this heavily, do I want to spend the day or week with a kind person or someone steamrolling everybody. Part of having a great attitude for me too is being generous and giving because it’s the right thing to do. It’s good to protect your licenses and to stand firm on rates, and it’s also good to understand where the person bringing you onto the project is. Most of the time they really are maxed on budget, and being willing and project focused because it was the human thing to do, ended up being good long-term also. And for me doing my best, is going inward, and allowing my style to be very true to who I am. I really listen to my intuition, and honor when to push, when to know when the project is finished. I’ve come to see most the times i’ve ever had regret is when I didn’t give it my all. It’s in those moments when I’m on the edge that I see something new, and that’s where my evolutions have come from, I’d never have those experiences if I didn’t do my best every time. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work from the inside out. Photography is a communication, so what I do differently is I’m a translator from ideas, feelings to images. I’m deeply curious about who you are, what motivates you, what your desires are, and dropping into your true self. Everyone is beautiful and perfect, and those who recognize that and own it are powerful. Sometimes there is undoing of trying to be something they’re not, to get back to the perfect soul they are. I’m super excited about film making, I’m studying that and pandemic has afforded me the time and mental space to explore film. To go back and watch films on the criterionchannel.com, learn from Italian, Japanese, French cinema, and old Hollywood films. And how I got here professionally was much like the movie Dead Poet’s society, or the book, “the Alchemist.” It seems like there are whispers spoken to us, and if I’m brave enough to go for it, the path is certainly not linear, but has been a fulfilling, exciting, and beautiful ride. To answer the question of if it were easy, no. Faith is inherently scary, it’s faith because there is no next step, time and again it’s moving forward with an educated guess of what might happen, but how it will play out is almost certainly not what I thought was going to be. For me, and I would think for others is looking at the relationship to fear and the unknown. Overcoming the fear has been creating a very strong inner circle, and being focused on the vision for my life. Revisiting what I said earlier about doing my best I believe is significant for many reasons. One, then my evaluation of success is more on my terms. This can go both ways, if there is rejection, I know I learned, grew, and it just wasn’t meant to be and that’s ok. And on the other side, maintaining success, if I’m not pushing then the repetition can lead to boredom, and also increases in mistakes. To constantly stay on that edge for me has been vital. What I’d love for the world to know is that you were created special. If you know you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, understanding that life is very brief, and the joys of feeling fully alive, being on the path you know you’re supposed to be on, not only feels great, but also can be the most lucrative.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Given that we’re in a pandemic, I’m not fully sure what is open, as it keeps shifting on a weekly basis. However part of why I love San Francisco, and the surrounding Bay Area is there is so much to see, experience and do! For sure head to wine country, rent a bike and cycle around the vineyards and stop at tastings. Another day would head south on highway 1, to show Pacifica, and continue to Half moon bay, stopping for seafood at Half Moon Bay Brewing company, and ending that day at the fire pit at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. Locally in San Francisco there are a ton of spots that I love, Corona Heights Park has one of the best views, a 270 degree view of San Francisco, similar to Twin Peaks but far fewer people, but you do have to hike up for about 5 minutes. I’d take them to Kiss Seafood, a tiny spot that is similar to Jiro, but the SF version. They are a husband and wife team in their 70’s who go to the fish market at 3 am every day and pick out the best omokase I’ve had in San Francisco for a reasonable amount, but it’s hard to get a reservation. And also take them to a breakfast at Zazie in Cole Valley, their lemon ricotta pancakes and crab Benedict!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This could be a book, there were so many people along the way who invested in me, believed in me more than I did myself. My father gave me my first Nikon and taught me how to develop and print black and white film and the joy of photography, this journey wouldn’t have been possible without him. My mom nudged me to go to the Grad program I decided to go to and believed in my when I didn’t see the way. Upon getting to San Francisco, I had enough saved up for about two months, of living, and reached out to a bunch of photographers. Anna Kuperberg, one of the best wedding photographers in the world, responded to my email and invited me over her house. She critiqued my work, and became my friend and changed the trajectory of my life. Upon leaving her place she told me to get in touch with Ben Chrisman, who was doing some very innovative work and getting international recognition. I went from being so broke that I was washing my clothes in my bathtub, to booking enough work to buy a new Honda Accord in one week. It was truly a miracle, and owe it fully to Ben and Anna. Carly Luzader is my long time friend I’ve known for 16 years who believed in me and was my entry to the Nike work. And Natasha Wong also known for a long time, hired me initially at Lululemon, and we both were starting businesses at the same time. It’s been so many! Most recently Jackie Lamping, who I’ve also known for over ten years here in San Francisco, has been a delight to work on several projects with, but collaborating on the fireside chats for Modern Health during the pandemic has been a true delight.

Website: kurodastudios.com
Instagram: @markkuroda
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kuroda-ab2aab90/

Image Credits
all photos were by me.