Kishin Shinoyama is probably one of the most famous photographers in Japan. Winner of the Mainichi Art Prize in 1980 and the Golden Eye Prize in 1998, Shinoyama has made a name for himself by photographing famous people. His photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono for the album cover of Double Fantasy in 1980 gave him additional recognition outside of Japan. In subsequent years, he dedicated himself to photographing women, especially famous actresses and singers such Seiko Matsuda (Five Seasons, 1986) and Rie Miyazawa (Santa Fe, 1991).

Shinoyama regularly has solo exhibitions of his work, and next month, he is planning an exhibition entitled: "La Vie En Rose" at Art Salon SCÈNE, a beautiful, invitation-only gallery in the Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo celebrating its first anniversary by hosting the famous photographer's works.

However, when one of the promotional photos from the exhibition—featuring actress and singer Hikari Mitsushima on a beach clinging onto the branches of a giant piece of driftwood with her head arched backwards towards the camera—began to circulate online, the unconventional pose and the sepia monochrome of the print seems to have caused some confusion about what Shinoyama actually captured with his camera.

【話題の記事】満島ひかり、広瀬すず、水原希子らが被写体に。篠山紀信の個展がアートサロン「セーヌ」で開催。木曜日のみ一般公開https://t.co/Ja6JmSDS3o#篠山紀信 #SCENE #展覧会 pic.twitter.com/BubovVKHST

— Fashionsnap.com (@fashionsnap) 2017年9月27日

On Twitter, a growing number of commenters failed to recognize Hikari Mitsushima, preferring instead interpretations of a more fanciful, even monstrous, nature.

For example, @kovkov, who most graciously allowed us to use her illustration in the title picture displayed above:

こんな感じのクリーチャーに見えたの、許してほしい　＞RT pic.twitter.com/3VvRCE3Xgg

— コフ@虎狩T34 (@kovkov) 2017年9月26日

---"Please forgive me but I saw a creature like this."

Another commenter had this to say:

---"All I could see was something out of The Exorcist or Sadako 3D"

And, our personal favorite, in reference to Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti from the anime Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World:

大差ねぇぞ pic.twitter.com/ZkDItTaJL6

— ひろと (@hirotton0317) 2017年9月26日

---"Not much difference..."

If you're a fan of Kishin Shinoyama's photography and would like to see the exhibit for yourself, please note that it will run from October 14 to December 22. Public days will only be Thursdays from 2pm to 8pm, so unless you have an invitation, you should probably try to attend during those hours. For more information about Art Salon SCÈNE, please visit their website.