Tokyo, Procrastination

The photos that were exhibited in Naked Tokyo 2008 are up on the nakedtokyo.com site.  My photos can be found here.  For the last little while I have been working on urban nightscapes.  

 

My artist's statement:

The "Yoru no Sojourn" series examines solo nocturnal journeys through Tokyo's urban landscapes. At night, the ambient light can transform mundane, ordinary places into something strange and mysterious. Our sense of place is so strongly informed by our daytime impressions that when we pass through these places at night, we become strangers in a different world. The narrative of each photograph's obscured, shadowed figure is told by the ambient illumination. The images plays with the idea of whether it is the figure or the photographer who is on sojourn. The photos reveal glimpses of travels through the alleys, suburbs and mysterious places of Tokyo.

 

The work isn't titled in the site but the titles are

 

Linger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retrograde

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I almost sold the last image.  A woman was going to buy it and came back with her husband but he wasn't a fan.  Bummer but I'm really excited to generate enough interest to have someone come back to look at it..

The first one comes out dark on my screen compared to the print.  I think some people have a darker screen than I do.  

I'm still working on this series.  It's hard to find the right images.  Sometimes my night stuff is quite cheery which doesn't really seem to fit with what I have so far.


Comments
on Jan 13, 2009

Great photos.  I particularly like the one titled 'Linger'.  It looks cool, mysterious and some how inviting too. 

on Jan 14, 2009

Thanks for looking at my stuff!

"Linger" is my favorite, too. I really like the colors and that kind of urban sleepy-creepy.  To me that photo really represents Tokyo once you get away from the downtown areas and move into the places where people live.  

"Passage" was the most popular at the exhibition.  The original has more reflection on the passage walls and in the building across the street, a woman is looking out of the window. I think people also felt more comfortable with the color palette of "Passage".

on Jan 14, 2009

I really like linger too, but retrograde kind of pulls at me.

on Jan 14, 2009

You are so talented, with an incredible eye.

I like Linger best because there is such visual dichotomy with lush green foliage in the shadow of night surrounded by a concrete jungle.

(And it really pulls on my inner preternatural story fetish, heh)