For the upcoming Tsuka exhibition at the CCP we have commissioned the wonderful Risaku Suzuki to produce a new series of photographs in response to the themes investigated. The new series is titled Kyozuka, Kumano and the photographs were made with a large-format 8x10” camera and will be exhibited as exquisitely detailed contact prints.
The Tsuka Fundraising Auction & Preview will be held to raise capital through the auction of participating artists’ photobooks and an exhibition of limited edition purchasable prints from Hajime Kimura’s project Snowflakes Dog Man. The evening will be limited to 50 tickets and Japanese cuisine will be served with refreshments. Audio entertainment will be supplied by Japanese filmmaker, composer and personality Ken Nishikawa via a specially recorded program. Ticket holders will also be entered into a raffle to win illustrious publications.
These photographs were taken after 3/11 in Fukushima. Imai visited the stricken area often and selected landscape locations 20 km from the 'zone.' where it is silent and mistakenly looks like nothing has happened. Imai quietly questions if the area beyond 20 kms is actually safe? For Tsuka Imai is also working on a video iteration of this powerful project.
A single photograph contains various powers – the beauty of light, the presence of objects and the people, and expressions from shadows. It never points in a single direction. It has distinctive and multiple vectors. We breathe in the places where these vectors come and go.
This is the free space where our mind can swim.
Tama-chan is a photographic investigation of a friend who I have concern for. Sadly, her life has been directed by death and violence. Perhaps she belongs in an older Japan? The technological advancements and the fast pace of contemporary society wear her energy and spirit down.
