The 12th Exhibition of New Cosmos of Photography 2003
Report on the open-selection meetings
Public selection : Nov.22.2003(SAT)
An open-selection meeting for the exhibition of “New Cosmos of Photography 2003” was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. The panel of judges was composed of Nobuyoshi Araki, Kotaro Iizawa, Fumio Nanjo, Daido Moriyama, and Risaku Suzuki. The nominees gave their presentations, and took part in a question-and-answer session with the judges. While 200 visitors watched, the grand prize for the year 2003 was given to Yasuhiko Uchihara, and an incentive prize for good works was given to Etsuko Kasagi, Hajime Nonaka, and Atsuhi Matsuoka.
Overall Evaluation
At the 12th open-selection meeting of “New Cosmos of Photography”, the winning works of the 26th contests were evaluated.
Overview of the 26th selection
Nobuyoshi Araki
Good pictures don’t need an explanation. This time I was impressed with the cool enthusiasm found in many pictures. In a good picture, the photographer himself is not actually shown but is reflected in what is photographed. When you show a picture to others, it is better not to put them in a photo file or a frame.
Kotaro Iizawa
I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of pictures again this year. As all of the photographs cover a wide range, it made me very tired reviewing through. Just like riding a roller coaster before my vision adjusts, I go on to the next series of photographs. This dizzy feeling is not too bad, though. These days, a diary style, in which a series of photographs are put together to illustrate what is happening in daily life, must be firmly structured in order to be chosen as a good work. I’d like to see the approach of an individual opening up a little more to society.
Fumio Nanjo
Brighter photographs with strong light and colors are increasing. There are many impressive works, and each of them is of a high quality. They also show purity and transparency, and reflect photographers’ enthusiasm to discover something. In ordinary scenes, they have found a certain thing, affair, or time that appear to be slightly strange. Probably that is the most important thing about photography.
Daido Moriyama
It is a hard or even cruel task to select candidates from such a vast amount of entries. Each one presents its own image or idea, and their techniques are of a high standard. As there were few works that were made without such efforts, I had no choice but to select them according to my own likes and dislikes. It was really hard for me. Those that I didn’t select were not bad at all, and they were actually good enough to be included. All entrants have a strong with to take photographs, edit, and show them. This year, I felt that even more than last year. The task of selection was a violent act.
Risaku Suzuki
The screening room appeared to be flooded with tens of thousands of photographs, and I was overwhelmed by the energy that the piles of pictures emitted. Nevertheless, I spent a whole day screening them, and I enjoyed studying each of the entries at my own pace, selecting good works based on my sole judgment. This unique screening process was very exciting and enjoyable. The fruit of this experience was that I could sense signs of change, following a persistent interest in the theme ”private life” that has dominated Japanese contemporary photography over the past decade. Certainly there are many pictures depicting private lives, such as “girlfriends,”“cars,”“my room,”“family,” and “animals.” Some applicants, however, have concerns about social issues such as “the instability of today’s society” and “the current economic situation,” as well as more conceptual and intellectual approaches. My belief is that contemporary photography should be based on such conceptual ideas and should be directed to creation. In order to pursue this direction, needless to say, enthusiasm and strong will are required. If someone should think that an artistic expression is valid in taking pictures of one’s life such as girlfriends and families, it would be too idle an attitude. To bring out “the power of photography” in any era or situation, a strong passion (based on the photographer’s mindset to structure concept) is essential.
Martin Parr
The history of photography used to develop with the progress of cameras and films that enabled photography to come into existence. Today, however, digital photography has widened the range of images, and now we can easily take photographs that used to be difficult to deal with. Since digital photographs appear to replace a photograph (as an object) with data, sometimes I can’t help feeling that it is a kind of language. Some entrants seem to be aware of this situation, and I am attracted to their works. (They might not be paying attention to this fact, though.) Uchihara’s challenge is quantity, and Fujita’s determination is to photograph under difficult conditions. Their works gave me visual satisfaction. What I was anxious about is that many other works looked balanced and settled on some familiar images. When we use a camera, it is natural that we sometimes try to take a photograph that looks similar to a picture that we have seen before. Then we are not photographing, but rather are made to photograph. I’m afraid this is an extreme view, but I think what is important is not how a picture looks but what the photographer is pursuing or thinking.
