Nihon

1999 -

Photographs, photobook, sound, video, collected objects and performative actions.

These photographs act as an ode to Japan. They are a visual memoir of time spent living, working and exploring in Japan for an extended period during my formative years. They are about memory, uncertainty and the creation of visual impressions in a new land. Through a non-linear narrative, they consider how we dwell and inhabit. Many of the photographs were made in locations that could be considered liminal spaces, where nature and culture entwine in unexpected and occasionally uncontrollable ways. These exterior spaces are often used for personal and obscure aspirations that are restricted due to limited interior living quarters: a couple pray for a dead child and a man carries cans up Mt. Fuji to fill vending machines. The photographs require a reading through the understandings of human interaction that often enmesh in uneven doses of desire and fear.