The 11th Exhibition of New Cosmos of Photography 2002
Report on the open-selection meetings
Public selection : Sep.14.2002(SAT)
An open-selection meeting for the exhibition “New Cosmos of Photography 2002” was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Nobuyoshi Araki, Kotaro Iizawa, Fumio Nanjo, and Shomei Tomatsu took part in the selection. While approximately 200 visitors including the audience and people concerned watched, the grand prize was given to Sawako Yoshioka, a special prize to Eri Okamato, and an incentive prize for their good works was given to Kikuko Usuyama, Atsuko Fukunaga, and Kohei Matsushima.
Overall Evaluation
At the 11th open-selection meeting of "New Cosmos of Photography", the winning works of the 25th contests were evaluated.
Overview of the 25th selection
Nobuyoshi Araki
Many entrants seem to be pretending to be overly serious about their lives and future, as if everything has stopped right there. The air of the times and the present society might be going toward a dead-end, but it is important to be positive about life and live actively everyday. I recommend them to use pictures to record their everyday lives as if to remember these days. It might be compared to falling in love with photography. I chose this particular work from that viewpoint. Humans need to have horny feelings, but many of the entrants have little of that. Generally speaking, many of them have held back their emotions. To be straightforward in a good way is most evident in one’s love for someone. Falling in love improves pictures. Anyway, I do not like pictures to be too serious and cold. Good pictures depict love and ardent emotions. It is about the essence of photography.
Kotaro Iizawa
Now that the competition is being held only once a year, the number of entries has doubled. It is almost impossible to make a selection. To look through all the “portfolios(albums)” in particular has become pretty hard. I would urge applicants to enter only after they are sure about how they can show their works most effectively in a limited number. I feel disappointed that there are too many works that convey no message whatsoever or what they are trying to do.
Fumio Nanjo
In this year’s competition, animals, particularly goldfish are most noticeable. Also photos of non-Japanese people have increased. This probably reflects the fact that Japanese are getting more internationally minded or more young people are going abroad. We need to take this fact into consideration. Another conspicuous feature this year is that in many series various small articles are used such as Ricca or Barbie dolls. A different trend is noticed each time, and the trend this year seems to indicate that entrants are groping for new themes and ways of expression.
Daido Moriyama
Many entrants seem to have gotten too used to entering a contest. They perceive stereotypically. They concentrate too much on making something, and the quality of their desire is thin. I assume that the quality and the quantity of an individual desire do not change so much over time. That they look at things only in such a sanitary and harmless way makes me doubtful. They should recognize their desire more straightforwardly. I see that overall energy and potential to experiment with one’s own desire are thin and weak. I believe, on the other hand, that it is OK to take pictures of anything they like. However, because it is OK to shoot anything, photographers should stick to something in themselves. In other words, it means they need to stick to their own voice. This is done not necessarily through one’s outlook on life. There must be a lot of questionable and risky matters in one’s life, and they need to face them. An individual who makes an artwork must be a stickler and be supported by his/her desires. Deconstructing oneself cannot be completed in one’s lifetime, but for now, they can try to change their photographs in one year as a game. I suggest that they make such a supposition and try something. In any case, the body is invisible here.
Marc Riboud
Each entrant is creating a work as he/she likes in this competition, and that attitude is good. Generally speaking, however, many works had problems in the final stage of compiling the work, in editing and selection, which are tasks after taking photographs. For example, in SABA’s work, a series of mysterious and poetic pictures in the beginning is replaced all of a sudden by realistic images, and because the interlocked rhythm of relativity and the flow throughout the work is invisible, I am tempted to doubt that even impressive parts are only the result of coincidence. I fully understand that the entrants’ urge to show many images as “a voluminous mass,” but I strongly recommend them to nurture the ability to maintain a strong concept and sentiment that run through the bottom of the work.
Shomei Tomatsu
Seeing aspiring entrants use their time and energy to pursue their ways of expression, I strongly feel that there is still a future for photography despite some assumptions that is has reached an impasse. In the post-war period, documentary photos were the majority, whereas today the choice of themes is up to each individual. In addition to the advancement of camera technology, society has diversified and likewise, a wide range of themes is available in photography. Although the entrants are still immature, I value this chaos and their attitudes. They are positive. The spirit of the times required photographers to take documentary and humanistic photos, and they reflected the times. At present, however, photographers have to create their works out of numerous alternatives, and it is more difficult to have viewers understand them. Therefore, I approve of their positive approach.
