Shooting Shogun

What's it like to be the stills photographer on one of the biggest and best historical dramas on TV?

- Geoff Harris

Fans of historical drama and anything Japanese have been glued to Shogun, the big-bucks remake of James Clavell’s novel (some readers may remember the original TV series with Richard Chamberlain). The new Shogun has been getting rave reviews and pulled in 9 million views globally across Disney+ and other channels in its first six days of availability. Shogun is broadly based on the true story of Will Adams (John Blackthorne in the show). Adams was an English sailor who got shipwrecked in Japan around 1600, a crucial year in the country’s history, with civil war brewing.

Initially held captive, he became the confidante of Ieyasu Tokugawa, an ambitious samurai warlord (Lord Toranaga in the show). We won’t give the plot away for anyone who’s not seen Shogun yet, but it’s a good old-fashioned historical epic, praised for its emotional power and reverential attention to period detail. Indeed, many eminent Japanese actors and consultants were involved in the production, including Hiroyuki Sanada from The Last Samurai and Westworld, so being the stills photographer on set was always going to be a big responsibility. The job went to Katie Yu, a seasoned stills shooter with a strong track record. Katie’s based in Canada, where much of Shogun was filmed, and looks back at her time as photographer on this hit TV series.

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