-You’ve won Daido Moriyama Award and also the Grand Prize. Did you anticipate such a result?

Not at all! I was surprised. When the Grand Prize was decided and my name was called out, I was so surprised that my mind was in a fog. At first, I didn’t expect that Daido Moriyama would select my work. Because of the atmosphere that my work has, I didn’t imagine that he would pay attention to it. I was delighted though, when I heard that he had chosen my work.
I assume that my work won the Grand Prize because a part of it matched the concept of New Cosmos of Photography. But I didn’t aim to try something new with my prize winning work. All I did was to concentrate on what I am interested in, and that seems to have worked well enough to win the prize.
I remember what Katsuhiko Hibino, one of the judges, remarked at the selection meeting that was open to the public. He said that winning a New Cosmos of Photography prize does not mean that we have to stick to or are bound by the word “new. ” I thought he was quite right, and his words have remained in my mind. My works in the future will go in the direction in which my interest lies.

-Why did you decide to enter for the competition this time?

This is my second New Cosmos of Photography entry in two consecutive years. I was a student of photography at college, and generally students begin to enter open competitions when they become junior students. As my classmates were applying for various awards, I thought of rising to the challenge. I really wanted to send this work “insider ” to New Cosmos of Photography. For several years I’ve visited every exhibition of the New Cosmos of Photography award winning works, and I really liked the idea of displaying this work of mine in that space.

-Where did you get the idea of dividing a human face into a right and left half?

While viewing on my computer the face of a boy I had photographed, I noticed that the expression on the face was quite different between the left and right half. When the image was reversed, it looked like another person. I thought it very interesting, and made those images into a series.
The subjects photographed in my work are neither my acquaintances nor friends. I spoke to strangers in town, and took photos of about 200 people. They vary from babies to elderly people, and also I tried to pick up different occupations and situations.
My choice was not based on the criterion that they would look more interesting when their images were reversed. Rather, I looked for whom I genuinely wanted to photograph, and I spoke to them. In that sense, this is more of portrait work than revealing the mysteries in a human face.
If there is a shadow on the face, it would look weird when reversed. So, I have to photograph only when it is cloudy or in the shade. And, unless they look right into the camera, it’s going to be difficult to obtain satisfactory reversed images. I was technically careful about that.
It did not take me too long to process the images after taking the pictures. After getting used to it, I could do it in one or two hours. After all, the toughest part of production was to gather the courage to speak to strangers in town.

-How did you get started with photography?

First, one of my friends invited me to be a member of the photography club of our high school. Before that, I was fond of painting pictures, and used to do that. Now, both paint and take photos. When the two are compared, each has its own distinctive qualities. The merit of photography is to use a piece of equipment, that is, a camera. It is the camera that takes the photo of the subject in front of my eyes. There are lots of things in photography that go beyond my capacity. That’s an interesting part.
I’m grateful to my friend for having invited me to the photography club. I’ll continue taking photos in the future. I’d like to go on producing works and displaying them. I’d be happy if I could. I’ve set up the website, cozuetakagi.com, to provide information on my work and activities. Please visit it and take a look.

-Who is your favorite artist?

Among photographers, I like Roger Ballen(*1), who photographs people in South Africa, and among painters, I like Egon Schiele(*2). His style in describing people is very attractive.

*1 : Roger Ballen
Photographer. Born in New York City in 1950. He has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa for a long time, and continues to photograph. He is known for his black-and-white portraits of local people. His photo books include “Shadow Chambe” and “Outland.”

*2 : Egon Schiele
Painter. Born in Austria in 1890 and died at the age of 28 in 1918. He painted while keeping company with contemporary painters such as Gustav Klimt. He left many self-portraits and paintings of others that are deformed so as to expose their inner feelings.