Gaijin (foreign) photo agencies and options in Japan

yes

please elaborate.

likewise, without knowing what you are looking for I can’t really offer any details.

thanks. editorial and advertising options.

Cory, Japan is a huge market, there are litterally thousands of magazines locally produced that are, it has been known, in the habit of using photographs to illustrate their pages. Likewise a fairly concentrated backscratching, itch-sharing advertising industry spends millions and millions every year procuring images to use in advertisments that fill the pages left over in those magazines and just about every other publicly viewable space in the city. Around 20 years or so ago AVGVST started a then somwhat unique idea of gathering a collection of talented photographers, makeup artists, stylists and the like and representing thier work to this industry. Since then a plethora of similar agencies/reps have sprung up all with their own collections of talent and have since attempted to slice of a part of the big photography pie for themselves. And so on and so on the industry grew. As it grew it became more and more specalised. Certain reps would work exclusively in the fashion photography industry, others only with car photography, food photography, interior / architecture, lifestyle, kids, dogs, still life and so on. Each with thier own niche and thier own little collection of clients and magazines that they would sell work to.

Now the big boys didnt want to be left out of this one, no Japan with its billions and billions spent every year was just too enticing so they too moved in for a slice of the pie. So over they came. offices were set up, staff employed, photographers hired, images shot, images sold and then wrapped them selves up in a very elegant combination of traditional Japaneses hand made paper along with an equisite bow and sold themselves to Getty.

So to answer your question, yes there are avenues for selling your photos here in Japan, both in the editorial world and in the advertising industry also. Hence my answer “yes”. But again without knowing specifically where your talents lie, what you plan to shoot, and what you have to offer that the thousands of other photographers digging at this gold mine dont then its very hard to offer you any usefull advice.

If I were to ask if there were agencies or editorial publications needing photographs is America how would you respond?