Although people exist before our eyes, what image do we exactly have of
them? Isn't it pointless
to try to pursue a definite image of people in the first place? In our everyday lives, we pass so
many different people all the time, with various thoughts running through
our minds daily.
This series experiments with taking portraits of people in such complicated
circumstances.
Using female office workers from the largest companies in Japan as models, I photographed
these women in their working environment. Furthermore, I took another photo of the subject
through arrangements of transparent acrylic cubes. The hard texture results
in intricate, overlaying
effects that make up these portraits of urban workers and add a symbolic
level to their photos.
By looking at these women through this texture, we can see distortions
and reflections that change
their original expression thereby revealing further individual multi-faceted
dimensions. The plies
of small acrylic pieces represent various elements of their character, and the images of figures
blended with their environment reflects how these women negotiate their
workplace.
I have given a three-dimensional effect to a two-dimensional image, resulting
in a complex,
Cubist-like image that captures the subject from multiple angles.
With Transform, I have explored how to take portraits of individual people through not
just one image.
I also change the acrylic pieces according to the day and time and take further images of the one
portrait. Furthermore, since all the images were taken with natural lighting,
changes in weather and
time were also reflected. What was once one single portrait suddenly takes
on transformations by
adding slight changes in the photography. Through this changing appearance, we come to see the
subject's expression changing with time, and thereby our impression of
them.