A regular contributor to titles such as The Gentlewoman and Wall Street Journal working with the likes of Dior, Helmut Lang and Louis Vuitton, London-based photographer Lena C. Emery breaks down her film commissioned to explore female sensuality and inspired by characteristics of the Virgo zodiac sign. Turn on subtitles [CC button] for translation.

“The use of metaphors is very common in classical Japanese poetry, often assuming an intimate relationship between the human and the natural worlds, so I wanted to look there first – it seemed a felicitous way to represent a young woman’s curious first thoughts about sex: inquisitive and exploratory, connected to movement and to her own body as a living, elemental entity. 

"It felt important to create a link between the individual lines of the poem she is reciting and the imagery in the film, not being too literal, but just enough so that people can feel encouraged to create their own symbolic ties between the two. 

“I also wanted to ensure that when hearing the poem people would be conscious of the Japanese context, so it made sense to have this woman, Michiru Shin, read it in her mother tongue. Mich is originally from Tokyo but studied illustration in the UK and has recently started to practice and perform contemporary movement and dance. I met her through an open call about a year ago, when I had just started looking for Japanese women to photograph for a book that will be published this year.

Her free spirit and ability to move in such a natural way, paired with her most inquisitive and sweet nature, is absolutely captivating and I hope we were able to capture at least a glimpse of it."