Canon global

-What made you enter the competition?

I am going to open a gallery with some friends. My initial motive was to use this as a way to promote that operation.

-What made you want to open your gallery?

Since graduating from photography school, I have been continuing photography while working part time. I hold exhibitions about once a month. And, I have come to believe that to carry on with photography it is best to have your own place. I guess you could say that we wanted to create a place where we could connect with society on our own.

-Did you think you had a chance of winning this time?

This was my first time to enter the New Cosmos of Photography. As my work can be viewed as contemporary art, I thought that as I use photos I would try to win a photography prize. The New Cosmos of Photography has the range to accept a variety of work. I thought I had a pretty good chance of winning. I had created many series of works up until now, but “Black humor or useless word,“ the work I entered was of the most social nature so far. I created this work with the greatest intent to communicate something to people.

-When did you create it?

Before I entered, I had already created it as a series. I first exhibited it at a small gallery when I had about 40 photos. I had increased it to 80 photos by the time I entered. I take photos on a daily basis, and from those I made selections at random and put color and letters on them. Even though it was random, of course each photo I selected was effective photo in its own right. The photo subjects are anything. There are landscapes, people, and self-portraits as well. As a result, the work becomes a mixture. As a matter of fact, there is no particularly deep meaning in the painted colors or the attached letters. As for the words, I wrote what I was feeling that day, rather than putting a whole lot of thought into it. I even used words I happened to see on TV too. Rather than worry about it, I felt it was more important to just go ahead and carry on creating. I painted the color with ink. As bright colors are best, I used printer’s ink. I thought it would be best to finish them all together, so I completed several dozen in one week. So as not to make it look too orderly, I consciously left them scattered around.

-How did you get into photography?

I took lots of photos in high school. I tried to create illustrations of lots of social issues, but after looking at them it seemed that what I had drawn were simple images with no connection to reality. At that point I thought that photos could be something that had more solidity. That was because photos show genuine reality. I take photos and process them to change their form to my own style, but I feel that I want to start with something that is real. That is why I decided to go to photography school. I have been expressing myself through photography ever since.

-Is there any photographer who has influenced you?

There is no particular person that had a direct influence. I first starting painting because I was impressed when I saw works like those of Picasso*. But, with photos there is no one in particular. As I like looking at photos from the past, they have definitely influenced me, and although there is a mixture of elements, I feel that they have provided me with some input.

*Picasso
Born in 1881, died in 1973. Born in Spain, he was active creatively in France. One of the greatest artists of the 20th century, his activities covered the genres of painting, sculpture, pottery, etc., and while continuously changing his style, he left behind some great works.