大学時代、ブラジルへ帰省していたときのことです。何気なく買ったコンパクトカメラで撮った一枚が、見たままの景色よりもずっとすてきに写っていました。「どうしたら、こんなにすてきな写真を撮れるのだろう」——そこから独学でカメラの勉強を始めました。
During a trip back to Brazil in his university years, Bruno took a photo with a small compact camera. It looked more beautiful than the scene he had seen with his own eyes. "How could I take a photo this beautiful?" — that question is where it all began.
日本に戻ってから一眼レフを手に技術を磨きました。アルバイト先の先輩のプロフィール写真を撮ったとき、「ブルーノ君の写真のおかげで、事務所に合格できたよ。」と言われたことが、写真家としての原点になっています。自分の写真が、誰かの人生の節目を後押しできる——それに気づいた瞬間でした。
Back in Japan, he taught himself with a DSLR. When he photographed a coworker's profile shots, she later told him, "Thanks to your photos, I passed the audition." That became the starting point of his career as a photographer — the moment he realized his photos could help someone through an important moment in their life.
ブラジル・日本・アメリカ、3つの国で過ごした経験を経て、2015年に独立。ポートレート・着物撮影を専門に11年以上、Sony Imaging PRO Support会員として活動しています。大切にしているのは「空気を、感情を、映し込む」こと。
After time spent in three countries — Brazil, Japan and the United States — Bruno became independent in 2015. He has specialized in portrait and kimono photography for over 11 years, and has been a Sony Imaging PRO Support member since 2016. What matters most to him: capturing the atmosphere, capturing the emotion.
Sandraは、撮影の現場でゲストの着物を整え、着崩れを直し、緊張している子を笑わせ、ぐずる赤ちゃんを抱き上げてあやします。一人が撮影に集中している間、もう一人が被写体のすぐそばで表情や仕草、その場の空気に気を配る——それが、私たちの撮影の本当の形です。
Sandra coordinates each guest's kimono on location, fixes it when it slips, makes a nervous child laugh, and settles a fussing baby in her arms. While one of them focuses on the shot, the other stays close to the guest — that is the real shape every BSA imaging session takes.
撮影が終わった後も、Sandraの仕事は続きます。数百枚から一枚を選び、色を整え、動画を編集し、お客様の元へ届ける——その全てに、Sandraの目と手が入っています。BrunoにとってSandraは母であり、いちばん近くで支えてくれる仕事のパートナーです。
Her work doesn't end when the shoot does. Selecting the best shots out of hundreds, retouching, editing the video, and sending it all to the guest — her hand is in every step. For Bruno, Sandra is both his mother and the partner who has been beside him the whole way.
写真に写らない、その一瞬前の時間こそが、二人で撮る理由です。私たちが撮っているのは「写真」だけではありません。その日一緒に過ごした時間、そのものです。
That moment just before the shutter clicks, the one the photo never shows — that's the reason we work as two. What we capture is not only the picture. It is the time we spent together that day.
BSA Imaging is a mother-and-son team from Brazil, photographing in Kyoto since 2018. Bruno is the photographer. His mother, Sandra, takes care of kimono styling and looks after every guest from start to finish.
Our kimono photoshoot, “Private photoshoot & kimono at Kyoto by Bruno,” is listed on Airbnb Experiences, where travelers book activities with local hosts. Bruno has been a Sony Imaging PRO Support member for 10 years, and his background in motorsport photography taught him to catch natural expressions in motion.
At the end of a shoot, guests often tell us the same thing: “If you ever come to our country, let us know.”
In 2018, we photographed a newlywed couple from Bangladesh. Their relatives had pooled their money so they could make the trip — it may have been the only time they would ever travel abroad. Not everyone can simply come to Japan.
While preparing our photo exhibition, I looked back through eight years of photographs and noticed something. The pictures that stay with me were all born the same way: when I stepped out to meet people.
One complete experience, from choosing a kimono to receiving the finished photos:
We'd bring the kimono from Kyoto and run the whole experience from start to finish. For your guests, it can be a way to experience Japan without the journey to Japan.
We're aiming to hold our first pilot event in the US sometime in 2027. Beyond that, nothing is decided yet — not the city, not the format. We'd like to shape it with the right partners.