Joshua Gordon works on instinct, refusing to be confined by a single medium. Whether through photography, writing, film or the occasional act of graffiti, his work thrives on immersion—throwing himself into subcultures, high-risk environments and frontal encounters with quite the interesting subjects. Currently based in London, though rarely stationary, he calls a 120-year-old pirate ship home. At the moment, he’s answering these questions from a nondescript hotel in Brussels, an unintended stop on his ongoing trips.

Gordon’s career has taken him deep into Tokyo’s underground, into the woods of Sweden with Yung Lean, a dance sesh with Corville Cuffy for Vegyn’s “It’s Nice To Be Alive” video and face-to-face with cult film director Takashi Miike in an infamous Tokyo strip club. His process is dictated by the moment rather than a storyboard, with influences that lean toward the emotional rather than the strictly visual.

Whether navigating the high-speed chaos of a subway tunnel or the quiet, meticulous world of a performance artist in Kabukicho, his images pulse with the same energy as the music he admires–twinkly, dreamy and tinged with melancholy. Check out our interview with Joshua below as part of our ongoing Through the Lens series.

“Being in dangerous situations becomes second nature with the kind of work I make because it’s so regular…”

Where are you based currently?

I’m in London living on a 120 year old pirate ship, I travelled a lot for the last 5 years but bought the ship in an attempt to “settle down” I guess, but I have still been traveling a lot and the ship is freezing so I haven’t been on it much. I’m responding to this email from a shitty little hotel in Bruxelles, where I came to meet some friends.

What’s the most surreal or unexpected moment your career has thrown you into?

Shooting my book TOY across Japan was pretty amazing, I was thrown into lots of situations that were overwhelming and overstimulating, I shot a woman called Maru Yacco who did performance art, paintings and made sculptures from found objects, she had a tiny apartment in Kabukicho, really close to where I was living. You had to squeeze into it, her bed was a small roll out mat on the floor, it was total dedication to her craft, 10000% purism, it was mind blowing. Meeting people like her inspires me and fascinates me and makes all of the struggles and pitfalls of this life worth it. I met a lot of amazing people shooting but everything in Japan was surreal and exciting.

Ever been in a situation while shooting where you thought, “Sh*t, I need to get out of here”?

Being in dangerous situations becomes second nature with the kind of work I make because it’s so regular, even when I am in tight subway tunnel with my face smushed against the concrete as a train is whizzing by at high speed I’m not thinking about leaving, I entered these scenarios willingly and what is planned for me will transpire. The only time when I get really angsty and want to get out of somewhere is when I’m bored.

“I’m not locked to one medium.”

Do you ever frame shots with a specific film scene in mind?

No, but I love and am very inspired by cinema, I just watched Audition by Takashi Miike which was phenomenal, and Movern Callar by Lynn Ramsey was really special too. I’m inspired by films more in an emotional sense than a visually referential way. I am not thinking or planning things when I’m shooting, it all just happens and I try to respond to what takes place.

If your work had a soundtrack, what songs or artists would be on the playlist?

I really love 7038634357, their music has that energy that I’m trying to capture with my images, twinkly and dreamy and sad.

What’s your go-to equipment?

It changes based on where I’m at, I use a lot of analogue cameras but also a lot of digital stuff, polaroid and weird lo-fi non camera’s too. so it’s the same as making the actual photo’s really, experimenting based on what’s in your surrounding environment. I’m not locked to one medium. I used to be strict with what I used and how it was processed but I’m a lot less strict now.

“I’d like to spend time with Irish travelers, Romani people, bodybuilders, the Taliban, creative dog groomers, Black metal kids.”

What subculture or scene do you want to shoot but haven’t yet?

I’d like to spend time with Irish travelers, Romani people, bodybuilders, the Taliban, creative dog groomers, Black metal kids.

Tell us about a career highlight that you are most proud of and why.

Getting to work with people I’ve looked up to for a long time is always an honor, and doing books and exhibitions feels like a blessing too. I did an installation in Espace Niemeyer, headquarters of the French Communist Party, with Kaleidoscope, that felt like a big deal to me, everything I’ve done with Kaleidoscope I’m very proud of, getting to shoot Takashi Miike in an iconic strip club in Tokyo, Yung lean in the woods in Sweden, Tom Of Finland guys in the iconic house in LA, they were all really special shoots, that feels like my best work. But I’m proud of everything, every book I’ve made means a lot to me.

If photography didn’t exist, what’s your next-best medium?

I also do a lot of writing, drawings, video, music, graffiti stuff, I am not married to photography, it only inspires me occasionally.

What upcoming projects are you working on?

I have a lot of books that I’ve been working on for a number of years, I’m sitting on a mountain of stuff from Japan, more diary style books, more writing, there’s some documentary projects I’m really keen to work on this year, I’d also like to archive and scan every book I’ve ever made and put them on my website for free, so people who can’t buy them can still look at them and read the stories.

All photos courtesy of Joshua Gordon for Hypeart.