Interview with the Fuji Guys Canada: Ryuichi Matoba and Greg Poole

It's not every day you can corner an interview with the president and vice-president of Fujifilm Canada without it being at a big photo industry tradeshow or event. Even then, there would be a line-up of bloggers and more established channels of media who want a piece of these Fuji Guys. Lucky for me that the new Fujifilm president Ryuichi (Richie) Matoba and vice-president Greg Poole (Fuji Guy) were in town to do a photowalk and I was invited as a special guest, as well as the other local X-Photographers. It was hosted at Revolver Coffee in historic Gastown (we did our last Leica Akademie there in the summer) and this was the opportunity I was waiting for. I had about 20 minutes before the event to ask questions concerning the photo industry in general, as well as specific questions concerning Fujifilm's X Series of cameras. He's a quick rundown of the conversation...

Being Interviewed by Eric Kim Photography

Eric Kim posing for Tarry of Revolver Coffee. Stranger in the line of fire. Taken with Ricoh GR.

It was a busy few days. Thursday night I had a meeting at Matchstick Coffee with my good friend from The Lab and a major photo industry sales rep (I won't ruin the surprise, but something cool is coming to Vancouver). Friday morning I was introducing my local Leica rep with a local coffee shop owner, Tarry of Revolver Coffee. As we were finishing up our productive meeting, Tarry told me that Eric Kim was in town and that we should try and contact him. Sounds like a great idea, but how do we track this man down? My plan? Shoot near where he was doing his workshop until I accidentally bump into him.  As I was developing my ingenious strategy in my mind, George (Tarry's son) spotted someone who looked like Eric Kim sitting on the other side of the coffee shop working on his laptop. An Asian dude working in a coffee shop with his Mac laptop? That's such a rare sight in Vancouver!! Me and Tarry decided it was Eric and so we paparazzi'd him by attacking him with two cameras each... and yes, it was The Eric Kim!!

Eric Kim & John Goldsmith: Interview Video

Ricoh GR. 1/800th sec f/3.2 @ ISO 1600. Shot in Gastown.

I was shooting my first video with world famous street photographer Eric Kim in Gastown when an unexpected guest walked into the interview... John Goldsmith!! What are the chances? He said he was walking around (taking pictures I assume) when he saw two Asian dudes shooting a video. Here's a accidental small clip at the end of a much longer full interview...thanks for the happy accident Cindy!! Ha ha. 

Both Eric and myself will co-release this interview video on Youtube soon. Stay tuned for details...