Meet Ryoji and Taiga Kanda | Taiga – Photographer. Ryoji – Watch Enthusiast & Collector.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryoji and Taiga Kanda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryoji and Taiga, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Taiga: I think that it’s passion. We have a strong passion for Southern California, mechanical watches, and art.

Ryoji: Belief. We believe in sharing good vibes, beautiful California, and people really like to see watches! We want to share our vision with others and give people something they can enjoy and feel good about.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My father and I used to have a business that filmed and photographed luxury real estate here in SoCal. We really admired the homes as works of art and wanted to capture their beauty. I taught myself how to film and use a camera so I could do it. Unfortunately the business didn’t work out and I had to sell off most of our equipment, but I did keep one camera and a few lenses. A couple years past, and recently my father started to get interested in watches and purchased a Hamilton Khaki Field. He liked it so much he took some pictures of it with his phone and showed me. I thought of the camera we still had and then we imagined photographing watches all over SoCal. When we shared the photos online they were an instant hit! We are very happy and excited because many people appreciate our work and we have fun photographing watches in our favorite places.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
LA is a very interesting place with so much culture and character. People from all walks of life converge here and that makes it a very exciting experience. Our favorite place is by the ocean. We are inspired to capture the coast and beach communities any way we can. Another place that is amazing is Sofi Stadium. Watching a football game there is something you won’t forget!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to give a huge shoutout to all of the watch lovers out there. We are very thankful for the watch enthusiasts and collectors all around the world that support us and enjoy our work. We want to photograph more watches in more places and keep sharing them with you!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchsocal/

Other: watchingcalifornia@gmail.com