Report on the Grand Prize Selection Open-Committee Meeting of New Cosmos of Photography 2007 (the 30th competition)
Overview of open selection meeting
First, each candidate gave a presentation and answered the judges’ questions in front of a large audience who filled the hall. Every nominated work indicated that the artists were highly motivated to pursue the possibilities of photography, and their presentations showed their individuality as well.
The time allotted for each presentation was ten minutes. Presentations were given in order of the Japanese syllabary of candidates’ names.
Yuki Aoyama, the first presenter, talked in reasoned phrases about how the idea of his work “UNDERCOVER” came from his complex feelings and desire for the opposite sex, and how he managed to find a way of taking pictures and showing his work with a high school girl as his motif.
Megumi Kurosawa, the next presenter, talked about how her encounter with Nanako, who was born as a male with a female mind, inspired Kurosawa to produce the work “DOUBLE LIFE,” and the details of how she photographed while deepening communication with the model. She talked about her passion as a photographer.
Noriko Takuma, the following presenter, explained that she photographed from the seat on an express bus traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto to make her work “A blink,” which is composed of vertically long monochrome photos. She also talked about her intention of making the installation, and emphasized that as an artist she believes only what she sees, and wants to take photos of what she believes.”
Toshifumi Tafuku used slides in a unique way while speaking. He explained that his work “SAYONARA Real · World” is composed of snapshots that he took mostly with his digital camera. As he expressed his opinions about photography and production, he had large-sized letters of words (in Japanese) such as “The ordinary life and travel (the extraordinary)” and “There is nothing but photography,” projected on the screen while giving his presentation.
Shinya Nakazato’s inspiration comes from documentary photos by Jean-Eugene Atget taken in the early 20th century. With his work “Conversations with Stillness” based on the model of a town, he communicated to the audience distort ed and irregular colors caused by manual work, which are reflected in photos.
Daisuke Nakashima, the last presenter, showed two metronomes that swung with different tempos, in order to explain the reason why he titled his work “soshitsu-metoronom (lost metronome).” Thus, he explained his way of thinking and his photographic style as an artist–how he sets up the moments he wants to see next, while recognizing the gap between a subject and himself as a photographer.
