MY BOOK ⛓ 🔒 (not for sale)
<Journal> A selection of my work displaying different aspects of my photography. Images I photographed for brands, magazines, or just for myself. There is no chronological order or detailed caption except for a few pictures.
Few Polaroids I’ve shot for my project with Triumph and Fonk..
Hidden beneath the railway arches of Kobe, FONK Motorcycles is the workshop founded by Awaji Satoshi, lead mechanic and co-founder. His path into motorcycles began with more than five years of hands-on training, learning maintenance, painting, welding, and engine rebuilding. During that time, exposure to a British-only custom shop led him toward Triumph, starting with the full rebuild of a 1968 Unit 650 engine that became his first Triumph.
Opening his own shop had always been a goal, and FONK was built gradually, with patience and care. From the beginning, Satoshi wanted it to feel open rather than intimidating. Many vintage motorcycle shops can feel closed off to newcomers, so FONK was designed as a gateway where younger riders could begin their relationship with motorcycles without feeling excluded. Most of its community today is made up of riders in their 20s to 40s, with an emphasis on sharing knowledge openly and learning together.
Inside the workshop, the atmosphere is calm and lived in. Triumph TR6Cs, T120Rs, desert sleds, and choppers sit mid-build or restoration alongside tools, books, and music.
The scene in Japan, as Satoshi sees it, is growing slowly and steadily, driven by feeling and connection rather than speed. Through exchanges with builders and riders abroad, particularly in the United States, he continues to bring outside experience back into FONK. One of those connections led to his own Triumph T100R, rebuilt between Japan, California, and Arizona, carrying those encounters physically within the bike.
Looking ahead, FONK aims to act as a bridge between riders and lived motorcycle culture. Satoshi believes that history and understanding are built through time spent together, through riding, working, and learning side by side. FONK is meant to be a place where motorcycles are not just owned, but understood and passed on.
When I was given the opportunity to direct and shoot a project for Triumph Heritage, I wanted to focus on the people behind the machines.
This led me to Awaji Satoshi, builder and co founder of FONK Motorcycles in Kobe. His relationship with Triumph was shaped over time, through years of learning, rebuilding engines by hand, and gradually understanding what kind of motorcycle culture he wanted to contribute to.
FONK started from that instinct: creating a place that isn’t closed or intimidating, but where knowledge, history, and experience are shared openly, especially with a younger generation of riders. His own Triumph, a T100R rebuilt through encounters between Japan and the US, carries that story physically.
I approached this project as a documentary, spending time inside his space, listening to how he speaks about riding, building, and passing things on. This is a look into his world, and the culture he’s building quietly, day after day.
@officialtriumph@triumphheritage@fonkmotorcycle@_masagori_
Notes from my journal (spared you my handwriting so I typed these because I really felt like sharing these thoughts)
Alongside some work I shot in Ireland.
This project still feels closest to how I think.
Ireland has a rich history of resistance.
I often quote and refer to F.Fanon or E.Said,
but so many wrote about this too:
Bhabha, Chomsky, Spivak, Mamdani, and more.
Please look into them,
I promise you won’t be disappointed.
