TATSUYA SHIMOHIRA – SEISORENKAN

TATSUYA SHIMOHIRA
SEISORENKAN

Published by Zen Foto Gallery, 2015
Book Size 29.7 x 29.7 cm
Pages 48 pages
40 images
Softcover
Limited edition of 500
SIGNED by the artist

About 10 years ago, I was fortunate enough to move to Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture and live there for a while. I heard various stories about the area where I lived, especially about Matsuri (traditional Japanese festivals). Festivals originated in ancient times and tradition as an effective way to connect with the land. Almost inevitably, I was drawn to Matsuri and traditions that concern the land as a central theme of my photography. One day, for a moment, while watching the "Shishimai" (Lion Dance) at an old shrine in Hachinohe, I felt as if I had returned to ancient times. This experience was quite difficult to express in words, the unknown and strange feeling that was going through my head. After I finished shooting in Tohoku, I returned to Kanto, then moved to Ise in Mie Prefecture and continued taking photographs.

“When Something Begins” —— In ancient times, when human beings first appeared, they saw or felt visible or invisible boundaries on the surface of the landscape, rocks, trees, water, and so on. Would this be different from the unfamiliar and strange feeling I had? As I moved from place to place, I had a feeling—perhaps I should call it “the spirit of the earth”—that I was being driven by the spirit of the earth as I moved from place to place. Wherever I went, I felt a cosmology in which heaven and earth were connected and unified through my flesh. This feeling overlapped with the unfamiliar sensations that came to me when I watched the Shishimai dance. I think the strengths of these sensations determine when I press the camera shutter. My happiness is complete if I am able to express these unknown feelings by printing these photographs.

– Artist's Statement