2017
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |
Masayo Matsuda
-Fossils-
Concept
The word Photography originally formed by two Greek words and it often described as light drawing. Michael Wilson describe that the photography is 'the art of fixing shadow.' (Wilson,pp28) Which shadow, considered to be the representation of one's trace or the proof of existence. Simon Baker said that 'we experience photographs in relation to memory.' (Baker,pp38) and those photographic images as the 'fossils of light and memory'.(Baker, pp39) Photographic images which captured within these glass negatives are the archive of the family but it also carries someone's memories in the same time.The glass negatives were found object from the market, and intentionally brakes by an artist which now no way could form the original image of the moment of the family. The pieces are carefully picked. Artist chose the pieces which illustrate the sitter and sitter's relation to the others within the images, tries to question the idea of memory and the archival aspects on photography through the prints of broken glass negatives.
Profile
1980 Born in Japan
2013 Graduated MA Photography at Royal College of Art
Website
Comment
coming soon...
Mutsuko Ota | IMA Editorial Director
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |
Koji Ishikawa
-This is not the end.-
Concept
Bachelard said in his theory of time, "Time is a reality confined to the instant and suspended between two voids. " I'd like to see time as moments, not continuance. Using the cutting functions of photography and symbolic linked behaviour, I'd like to present compressed momentary images which are different from linear time continuing from the past to the future.
Profile
1978 Born in Japan
2005 Graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography
Home Page
Comment
With his series ‘This is not the end’, Koji Ishikawa has created astonishing photographic compositions that oscillate between
light, luminous colours and darkness. Similar to Chiaroscuro paintings, the tonal contrasts in these works come close to evoking
a 3D effect so that their viewers almost seem to be stepping into Koji Ishikawa’s captivating and mysterious photographic
landscapes and surfaces. This photographer stands out due to his excellent photographic techniques as well as his idiosyncratic
visual language that captures the eye of the beholder.
Christophe Guye | Christophe Guye Gallery Director
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |
Kenta Nakamura
-Offerings-
Concept
The question started from asking myself, at which point does god become part of our daily lives, in each places, through tradition? Although humans, ourselves, created this tradition, there is something above human about it.
In this work, I focused on the topic of "Rituals" which I photographed.
Profile
1981 Born in Japan
Home Page
Comment
For the Japan Photo Award 2017, Kenta Nakamura draws from multiple projects that he has developed over recent years, and it is the interconnectedness that this act of combining creates that really interests me. It moves the individual projects further from their primary concept into a realm of contingent and layered meaning. On one level, Nakamura’s approach in this submission acknowledges the behavior of images in the world of Web 2.0 - dislodging his authored intent so that it becomes secondary, and allowing the viewer to find their own meaning in his photographs. On another level, by bringing projects with very different intentionality together, Yakamura reminds us that his creative journey is multi-layered, contradictory and held within these beautiful, fragmentary photographs.
Charlotte Cotton | An Independent curator of and writer about photography
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |
Akira Otsubo
-Shadow in the House-
Concept
In "Shadow in the House" series, ghosts suggesting shadows are imprinted in the rooms where the owners had been replaced in changing times by adding multiple layers of memories along the way. After World War II, Japan was placed under occupation by the Allied Forces and over 3,000 private homes were confiscated to house the occupation's officer corps. There are signs of renovations being done on the houses in her photographs, such as converting a Japanese tatami room into a Western style with hardwood flooring. Although the majority of the seized properties were returned to the former owners after the derequisition, many of them are now being demolished. The personal memories that are obscured by history are photographed by shooting dancer's shadow on 4x5 camera using a long exposure. The photographs are an attempt to imagine the memories of unknown others which are difficult to retrieve and to share. While the records of photographs have "Objectivity" in their nature, the antinomy arises that images can always be manipulated.
Profile
1979 Born in Japan
2011 Graduated with an MFA in Intermedia Art at Tokyo National University of the Arts
2013 Graduated with an MFA in Photography at AAAD in Prague
Home Page
Comment
coming soon...
Reiko Tsubaki | Mori Art Museum Curator
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |
Yohei Suzukawa
-Apocalyptic Sounds-
Concept
I was inspired by the theory of Schrödinger's cat., when I created this work.
I assumed the small world surrounding me to be a box. There are various possibilities and options in the box. The greater number of them, the more different I am from now. I can understand that, however, I don't think so.
No matter what I do, the destination is the same. I feel that I am in an infinite loop.
My basic concept of photography is feeling as if I exist between virtual and reality.
Everything seems to papier mache (empty inside).
The trumpet of the angel resounds, this small world is ending. In this moment, if there is still a small possibility, I'd like to imagine a bright future. I created this work while thinking of such a thing.
Profile
1979 Born in Japan
2005 Graduated from the Japan Institute of Photography and Film.
Home Page
Comment
Yohei Suzukawa explains his project Apocalyptic Sounds citing the paradox of Schrödinger's cat, which states that a cat closed in a box may be simultaneously both alive and dead. I’m not an physicist but I believe Suzukawa in this series questions the notion of time and space. And how appropriate that he is using photography, which by its nature challenges both.
Apocalyptic Sounds is a beautifully mesmerizing and puzzling series of photos, where serenity and darkness seem to magically fuse together.
Bruno Ceschel | Self Publish Be Happy Director