Tomonori Nishigoori “Dream of Interrupted Time” | 2001 Excellence Award winning work

ARTIST STATEMENT

Dream of Interrupted Time

When I met Yuka, she was seventeen. This collection of photographs is like a diary since then, although it was interrupted once in a while. For two years, I didn't see her, so the pages are blank during that time. I did not have any specific intention first when I started to take her pictures, but when I saw old prints, I was attracted again to her in daily snapshots. Something that used to be unclear in myself has begun to reveal itself. The title is ”Dream of Interrupted Time.“ What is photography to me? It is probably about how I communicate. It reflects the distance and my feelings when I stand face to face with someone or something. I approach it and step back with my camera, although the medium could be something different from photography. Sometimes I want to go closer, but I can't. Sometimes I move too close and bump into it. What appears in photographs seem to be what happens in dreams. When I pressed the shutter, it was certainly there, but it is gone and what is left is my memory of “what was there.” The picture is gone, but even my memory seems to be mysterious.

Selecting judge: Nobuyoshi Araki

I've selected the work for its serene purity. I suppose that the relationship between the photographer and the subject is very good because she smiles that way. The charm of photography is to commit something of a taboo, share a thrilling time together and photograph it. Transparency of feelings, which is expressed as photographic airiness or clarity, pervades the photographs. This airy atmosphere is very nice. That the pictures seem to be talking about her feelings on her behalf is because the photographer's feelings are reflected on them. It might be for a short while, but he is loved. That's why the title is “Dream of Interrupted Time.” This man is so pure that he can take such pictures. The piece, on which the date is printed on the blue sky, is great.