Japanese Photographer Atsushi Morioka Releases the World’s First Photo Book Focusing on Fish Faces

The brainchild of photographer Atsushi Morioka, “Uozura” (‘fish face’) is apparently the world’s first photo book focusing on fish faces. According to the press release, Morioka came up with the idea when he noticed “surprisingly angry faces when he photographed some fish up close.

The patterns above their eyes sometimes looked like eyebrows, and the scowl contrasted with their cute appearance. Some fish look like a ‘certain someone’ you’ve seen before, and even look like they want to talk to you.” So, he began taking close-up photos of fish faces and posting them on social media, where the images quickly went viral.

More: Instagram h/t: grapee

Morioka kept about 150 fish in six aquariums at home. He searched for good-looking fish, brought them home, waited for the perfect moment when they were “in good spirits”, and then snapped them in the best possible condition. He made it a point of only spending five minutes at most for each shot, or his fish models would get frazzled and no longer look good on camera.

And the results? Take a look at a few examples. Although the resolution of the images provided in the press release is less than ideal, they’re good enough to give you an idea of what to expect: