PRESENTATION
I took up photography as a pastime when I was a university sophomore (age 20) and began to carry a camera to come face-to-face with various things that I see.
What is this world that we see? This still remains a question. Things in the world are always ahead of us. We cannot catch up with them but they have something that evokes nostalgia as well as a sense of security. There is no end to my pursuit of these things. How will they appear to the eyes of third parties? Maybe dreams, maybe the future, maybe the past, or something else?
Whatever they are, they are all correct answers and I’m ready to accept them. So, I’d like you to tell me what you’ve seen and caught your attention, for which my personal interpretation is not necessary. There are so many things that I cannot figure out exactly what they really are. But I think that’s OK.
My works include no messages whatsoever. Any one of my photos can be interpreted as anything according to the viewer’s perception of the world and experiences. So, there can be almost infinite ways of looking at them. It would be nice if my works serve as a catalyst for generating communication among people. It is what I aim at when I show my works to people. It’s a great stimulus and surprises even myself.
Photography is a compatible means and a useful tool for me. It’s even an integral part of myself. From now on as in the past, I’d like to create images using photography as a reliable means. I’d like to expand the horizon of imagination, sometimes surprising myself and harmonizing with people around me at other times. I will produce works – without perfection – before I think about them. I stopped thinking about tomorrow. For me, “Now” is the only time that exists.
Selector’s Comment & Questions and Answers
Hiraki Sawa
As you mentioned in your presentation, my first and strongest impression about your works were “incomprehension,” which fascinated me. So, I thought I would appreciate it with my own personal interpretation. I found your portfolio of visuals interesting because images like a workshop, which bring you back to realities of life, are inserted abruptly among elaborately crafted images while highly realistic images are found in the depths of Gothic-art-like images. These inserted images involving some strange parts shook my way of thinking and led me slightly off course, which was enjoyable in itself.
But it seemed to me that the actual exhibit lacked some of the movie-like touch that I could feel when I looked at the portfolio. What did you think about this point for this exhibit?
(Takashima)
Given the insertions, I thought the larger the photo sizes the better. I didn’t want to make the photos smaller. I thought it would be best if I could exhibit all the photos in the portfolio in the sizes exhibited here. But there were limitations in the wall size, so I had to choose the six pieces that I thought would be best to generate narratives.
(Sawa)
Sizes are a very important aspect for photos. In fact, implications of photos can change to some extent according to photo size. There is a relationship between the size of art works and the physical size of the viewer. To view and appreciate your works, I had to keep a certain distance away from the works, which seems to have somewhat lessened the feeling of intimacy that your works have.