Tatsuo Suzuki Breaks His Silence on the Fujifilm Controversy

The celebrated Japanese street photographer tells his side of the story on the Street Life podcast

For years, Tatsuo Suzuki let the silence speak for him.

But now, speaking on the Street Life podcast, the Tokyo street photographer has finally addressed the long-standing controversy surrounding his appearance in a Fujifilm promotional video.

Back in 2020, a campaign video for Fujifilm’s X100V went viral. The internet didn’t like it. In the video, Suzuki was shown moving fast through crowded streets, camera raised, catching faces close-up without warning. The footage triggered a wave of anger. Viewers called his style invasive, aggressive, unethical.

Fujifilm pulled the video. Suzuki disappeared from the conversation. Some said he had been fired. Others claimed the company dropped him. But Suzuki says that was not the case.

“I Was Never a Fujifilm Ambassador”

A central point Suzuki made in the interview was to correct what he sees as a major public misconception: that he was officially affiliated with Fujifilm as a brand ambassador or “X-Photographer.”

“To make it clear, I was never a Fujifilm photographer in the first place,” Suzuki said. “I was only there for the commercial. [I] would like to make that very, very clear.”

According to Suzuki, his role was limited strictly to appearing in a single promotional video for the X100V camera. He says he was invited as the only Japanese photographer featured in the campaign, and his presence was symbolic but not representative of any formal endorsement.

Listen to the episode of Street Life in full with Tatsuo Suzuki

“That’s Not How I Photograph”

Suzuki also claimed the Fujifilm commercial misrepresented his photographic style. “The way my photo style was captured in the Fujifilm commercial, it wasn’t even how I photograph people in the first place,” he explained. “When you go about taking photos that way, you can never get a proper shot.”

He emphasised that none of the photos taken during the commercial shoot were usable or representative of his real work. More troubling for Suzuki, however, was that he was not given a final cut to review before the video was published. “If I actually got to check the content before it went live, I would have stopped it,” he said.

Why He Stayed Silent - Until Now

Many critics over the years questioned Suzuki’s prolonged silence in the wake of the backlash. In the podcast, he revealed the reason: loyalty and concern for others. “I felt that I owed a lot to Fujifilm,” he said, noting that the company had chosen him as the sole Japanese photographer in an international campaign.

But more importantly, he said he feared that speaking out could harm the careers of Fujifilm employees who were involved. “For me, as a freelance photographer, I can just recover by continuing to take photos. But for the employees - if they’re seen as responsible for a failed campaign - it’s a point of no return.”

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Suzuki briefly addressed the topic once before in 2023 during a speaking engagement in Luxembourg, but this marks the first time he has publicly explained the situation in such detail.

While some may still take issue with aspects of his work, Suzuki’s decision to finally speak out reveals a layered story: one about artistic representation, corporate control, and personal ethics.

For Suzuki, setting the record straight was long overdue.

Listen to the interview on the Street Life podcast, a photography podcast hosted by John St and Mark Davidson.