Report on the Grand Prize Selection Open-Committee Meeting of New Cosmos of Photography 2007 (the 30th competition)
Comments of judges
Yuki Aoyama
Nanjo : “I wonder what is happening, and my curiosity is stimulated. There is a power about this work that attracts us. While it looks like a fetish, the body is treated as an object or as parts. I like that feeling of distance. The display also helps make the atmosphere of the work impressive.”
Enomoto : “I think it is photographed from a very refined angle. Regrettably, he should have clarified his present feelings toward the high school girl in his presentation.”
Megumi Kurosawa
Araki : “We see a photo within the subject! It is excellent that there is no sign of the photographer in the pictures. All that jumps into my eyes is the subject. How the subject can beat photos through photography is most important.”
Enomoto : “I was surprised to learn in her presentation that the subject is not a transvestite, but actually dresses as a man in daily life. I would like to see him dressed naturally as a woman, if possible, in addition to as an excessively dressed subject. I think this is a close collaboration between the photographer and the subject.”
Noriko Takuma
Moriyama : “In recent years, there have been many colorful and large - scale entries, and this work came straight to my heart. It is not a themed piece, so it easily overlaps with memories of many people. It is also good that we can feel distances as a whole. In addition, it is interesting to find scraps of fragments cut out of reality. That shows the essence of photography, I think.”
Iizawa : “It reminds me of Robert Frank’s “The Lines of My Hand.” The installation in the exhibition is remarkably good.”
Toshifumi Tafuku
Koo : “The entry is in book form, and it is interesting to see an unexpected pair of photos on two facing pages. There is, however, a disadvantage for the exhibition in that respect. I think that he has the ability to grasp the object in casual snapshots, so I hope that he will make the best use of such an ability and style in his future work .”
Moriyama : “Because he takes a lot of photos, he tends to make them somehow patterned. When we see the same pattern repeatedly, even powerful photos lose their power. It might be a good idea to reduce the volume.”
Shinya Nakazato
Enomoto : “It is obvious that he is trying to broaden the concept of photography. He is very talented in constructing forms. As we have photographed too many things that exist, how to photograph something what doesn’t exist is probably the next challenge in photography. There seem to be different possibilities in the way of tracing photos historically to make a work. He was fortunate that he first got a motif from Atget.”
Nanjo : “This work can provoke debate. So, he should be aware of that, and be sure about what he really wants to do.”
Daisuke Nakashima
Iizawa : “His work has style, and I feel that he is confident about it. Photos are arranged refreshingly without confusion, and are well cut out from the real world. I expect that he will keep this good point to grow as a photographer. He should get more people involved in his world.”
Koo : “ The framing is very good. I can see that he tries to take a photo as simply as possible. But I’m afraid that he indulges himself in this style and tendency, and I’m a little concerned about that.”
