Report on Grand Prize Selection Open-Committee Meeting of New Cosmos of Photography 2010 (the 33rd competition)
Overview of open selection meeting
The open selection meeting took place in a crowded hall, and after each candidate gave a five-minute presentation, there was a question-and-answer session with the judges. The well-prepared, well-delivered presentations all captured the attention of the listeners. The judges asked questions from various perspectives in their efforts to determine the intentions and merits of the artworks.
The first candidate to give a presentation was Harumichi Saito. From the standpoint of a deaf person, Saito expressed his frustration through photographs with the treatment of disabled individuals. He explained that there is often a narrow, awkward image, and he feels that viewers will find it difficult to make a connection, so for him personally: "It was my idea not just to take photos of the world of disabled people, instead, I wanted to shoot photos of all worlds, including animals and people." In the same way as the words used in the title, he made a passionate appeal. "In my work I am expressing a return to roots with the "life" that all things share."
Karen Sato's presentation was next. Sato explained that her award-winning work was created during a period in her life when she lived by adapting to others, and abandoning herself, and she reflected this in photos. She said: "This work "dappigara" showed a refusal to face reality and self-denial of the adult that I have now become." Next, regarding feelings about her work, she explained: "The world of images is one where time, society, and the environment uniquely do not get tied down. And, that by not ceasing to imagine, by taking photos, this means that I am myself." Sato methodically explained the thoughts behind her work: "Although many photos are of clothing and equipment, rather of my appearance, I was able to make photos that are really me, and I positioned these works as self portraits."
Shibata Sumi's work included her high-school classmates as subjects. She said that when shooting: "The image was like catching a small bird and putting it in a cage, or like hunting." And the aim of her work was one of "Wanting to leave a record of time just as it was." She carefully explained in her own words that the reason for having many intimate photos with natural expressions is that "I thought that I would photograph close friends as only they would be able to show these expressions. And that photography itself was a form of communication for me."
Koichi Takagi began by talking about his interpretation of the title "Fluid Film." "It comes from a term in fluid dynamics, meaning the boundary that occurs when flows run into each other." He said that each of the photos of people etc. standing in flames, moonlight, and darkness, have the feeling of photographing boundaries. A variety of techniques were used in the exhibition, including propping photos up and holding them up with pushpins. Takagi enthusiastically explained the thoughts behind his work. "This was the result of wanting to create a space. And, I hoped to create an exhibition in which the viewpoints of viewers would change according to their positions and viewing angles."
Ikumi Taniguchi was the last to give a presentation. Taniguchi's works consisted of a large number of black and white photos. She took photos of co-workers and the surroundings, while working in a hostess bar in Tokyo's Shinjuku Kabuki-cho area. She explained that she admired photographer Katsumi Watanabe's photos of Shinjuku, and although she tried to photograph Shinjuku as well, "I was only able to capture the surface and wanted to look deeper." So she worked and photographed in Kabuki-cho for six months. Taniguchi explained that the intention of the works in this exhibition. "Everything was fresh, so I took photos of everything that caught my eye. I wanted to use my experience from being there, so I mounted the photos in the shape of a Kabuki-cho map."
And with that, the five candidates' presentations, which showed their ingenuity and displayed their originality came to an end.
