Imagine yourself in the streets of Los Angeles. You’re walking around. You’re on your way home from work, enjoying a date or just out for a stroll. It’s a beautiful afternoon. The sun’s still out and there are no distractions but the ambient noise of the city . . . until you hear clicking.

You look ahead and see a stranger rocking a t-shirt and a dirty pair of Dickies pointing a camera at you – he does so discreetly, but you still notice. Who is this guy?

This guy is Narihiko Kumagae, 26, a photography student from Japan. Kumagae, also know as Hiko, has only been in the state for a little over a year, but the impact of his work and personality makes him an honorary Californian.

Because of his passion for photography, Kumagae’s traveled around the country visiting areas like New York, Portland and San Francisco.

There are times when people aren’t too keen on having their pictures taken. “Sometimes people kick me,” Kumagae said. “And I was pushed (in San Francisco).”

Thankfully, Kumagae does have a few tricks up his sleeve when he’s aggressively confronted.

“Sometimes I pretend I don’t speak English,” he laughed.

Tim Trezise, owner of Syndicate Barbershop in Long Beach, has been friends with Kumagae for a long time.

“He’s just so likable and honest,” Trezise said. “An eager kid that everyone wants to work with.”

“Everyone loves Hiko,” he added.

Darilyn Rowan, Kumagae’s photography professor, said that he’s “really at a graduate student level.”

“His talent was very obvious,” Rowan said. “He was an exceptional student, very hard working and (produced) beautiful work.”

Virginia Chavez, 21, sign language interpretation major, said that most of his work reminds her of photographs from the 70s.

Chavez is also a friend of Kumagae. Although she only met him this semester, they quickly became acquainted with each other — mainly thanks to his welcoming personality, she said.

“He just seems like you can click with him really fast,” Chavez said. “There are only a few people who are like that.”

When she saw his work online, Chavez said she was mindblown by the strong resemblance Kumagae’s photos had to rich, black-and-white film.

“All the shadows come out and it looks like black-and-white film,” she said.

Kumagae described his admiration for black-and-white photography as something that was hard to explain, but he mentioned that he found inspiration in his favorite photographer, Daido Moriyama. Moriyama is also well-known for his black-and-white street photography.

When he discussed his thought process, Kumagae said that he is ready to immediately take photos when he arrives at his destination. However, when he’s been out for a while he feels himself gradually “melting” into the city.

Kumagae enjoys being out in the streets making art of his own. But that’s not how he describes it. “I’m not doing art, but people in the street are doing art. I’m just capturing it.”

Last Updated: Sept. 3, 2015