“I feel in love after a long interval”
Just like a singer making a love song, I made a “love book” for him, though I told him nothing of it. Thirteen days after I received the award, he called me after a long interval. He called me to tell me something that was totally unimportant and difficult to understand. So I responded likewise in a way that was, I assume, incomprehensible to him. He said, “No back-talk. You should do as I tell you. This is the first time I have heard you talk so much” I am very fond of the phrase “the first time,” and I remember that he gave me a lot of first-time experiences. As it was painful for me to keep on hearing him talk, I said “Can I change the subject?” and then talked about the work “I fell in love after a long interval” I said, “My work that I made for you won the prize. That is not necessarily the reason, but I want you to come and see my work” He snapped, “I won’t” It would have been a great shock to me if I remained as I had been sometime ago. At that time, he was at the center of my life. But now my response was “You won’t? All right.” His reply “I won’” did not hurt me, but I felt sad about not missing him. The whole thing has become a pleasant and painful memory.
Selecting judge: Nobuyoshi Araki
I gave in for that smile of a lady in love. It is wonderfully adorable. Pictures of many other entrants show depressed feelings and seriousness. They kill their emotions and take pictures as scenes in stop-motion. The picture is OK if I can feel some kind of buzz in it, but many of them do not have that. This girl makes do without it. Her pictures and writing expose her emotions straightforwardly. This smile is it.
