“In the silence of Hokkaido, there is romance

A journey with Kurt Ahs

“Hokkaido, the northernmost – and least developed – of Japan’s four main islands is one of the country’s last wild places. I have found Hokkaido to be particularly intriguing – gently seductive, dangerously wild and hopeless romantic. This is where Fan Lee and I had our pre-wedding photography, and our endless romance reflected by Kurt Ahs’s inspiration that he has found there.

Till then, Kurt Ahs is one of the few Asian photographers I knew (probably the only and one in Malaysia) who extending overseas photo shoot to a winter Hokkaido. And, he did twice! We were both quite nervous about being photographed under such an extreme climate just in between -20°C to -34°C, with only thin gown and suit. Teeth chattered, bodies shivered, we had tendencies to either pull rictus grins or look away whenever a camera was being pointed at us. We were struggled to open our eyes because of merciless iced wind ..

Indeed, we invested to a photographer and locations that given us incredible returns. Kurt Ahs was brilliant at being very professional but unobtrusive. The result is a beautiful collection of photographs and seeing the photos makes us feel like we’re re-living the day all over again! We were both really impressed and grateful for how hard he worked especially under the extreme cold weather and the deliverables are above what we would have expected.” 

By Jinhan Fanlee ( Malaysia )

Art direction + photography Kurtahs Studio

Location Hokkaido, Japan