Report on the Grand Prize Selection Open-Committee Meeting of New Cosmos of Photography 2011 (34th competition)
Overview of open selection meeting
The open selection meeting started as the many visitors watched. The Excellence Award winners gave five-minute presentations, and these were followed by a question and answer session with the judges. In their own words, the candidates talked about the intentions and ideas behind their works, and the judges asked various questions in an effort to get to know their works in greater detail.
Maya Akashika gave the first presentation, saying: “There is a state of mind that I would like to reach.” She said that in essence: “The sounds, colors, smells, and air of experience in China” flow through her works. “I try to imagine the other side of the image I want to visualize in my mind. When I come up with the first image it is fun, and I feel happy and good, that is the state of mind I want to reach.” Akashika explained the source of her inspiration as: “By digesting things that are not visible to the eye, and things cannot be grasped by the hand, and returning them to the work, the mind and body becomes lighter.”
Yoshiyuki Okuyama began by talking about what motivated him. He explained: “The girl cannot be touched, even though she is within reach. That subtle feeling of distance is like a dream. No matter how happy the dream is, the memory fragments with time, and the image fades. I made these works as a way of embodying the memories of dreams that eventually fade away.” “By showing two photos together, they express the fragmentation of memories.” He enthusiastically explained that he would like to continue shooting photos while being conscious of a feeling of distance from the subject.
Next, Masanori Kito said: “I am not thinking of anything when I take photos. I shoot away on impulse, or simply when I want to.” He explained that the title “Hyaku A” was a text stuck on a coin-operated locker in Shibuya. He said that because it was simple and strong he chose it for the title. His reason for not including “Hyaku A” among the nine pieces exhibited was: “I selected only simple items for exhibition. It was like selecting the starting lineup.” Regarding future activities, Kito calmly explained: “I can only do what I am capable of doing now, so put simply, that is what I would like to do.”
Patrick Tsai liked the Japanese photo culture and arrived in Japan three years ago. He got his inspiration for the works of animals with lively expressions from George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, and the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds. He said “I shot all my photos using a compact camera. Some of them are blurred, but those faults make them interesting. By photographing as I would with friends and lovers, I think I was able to take some intimate photos.” He also made an appeal for his works saying: “Photos are not interesting if you have to explain them. I want the viewers to feel the story through their senses.”
The last candidate to give a presentation was Mariko Yamada. She said that up until now she had taken photos as herself, dependent on fulfilling her own sense of pride. “My family gave me their support regardless of the photos. These works are in photographic format, but I am not dependent on photos at all,” declared Yamada, saying that her feelings changed as her inner self and photos were evaluated. Talking about her work, she said: “I felt as if my eye was turning into glass, and this felt beautiful, shooting with just one tungsten light.”
