Yuki

Fall 2019

Yuki Obayashi is a junior at the Stamps School of Art and Design at Michigan focusing on visual design. When I was first photographing Yuki, whether she was applying for internships or working on digital design-based projects, she was always sitting behind her laptop. I was a little worried, at first as I thought to myself, “Is this all she does? Will my project just be about a girl on her computer all day?” However, as I had the privilege to spend more time with Yuki, I realized that she is an extremely talented and multifaceted individual. Although Yuki creates a lot of her work on Adobe Suite, her passion is to render 2D visualizations through painting. I was able to see how this tactical practice was translated through her work with Live in Color, a mural-making organization on campus, for which she is the Co-Creative Director. It’s also obvious that Yuki’s boyfriend Nichrel is a major figure in her life: her face completely lit up when she recounted the time he asked her to prom with fireworks. Although the two of them don't often display their affection publicly, there were little, adorable moments between them that I witnessed, including the two feeding a brownie sundae to each other at a taco stand. I traveled to Yuki’s hometown over Thanksgiving break, and her hospitable family served me a Japanese-inspired dinner. After eating, Yuki’s mother was cleaning the dishes while Yuki laughed at her mother’s many autumnal knick knacks staged across the kitchen table.