Flowers

This is "flowers" (2021) by Okuyama Yoshiyuki.

"Flowers," the first of a trilogy of works depicting people through non-human subjects, was shot in the house where his late grandmother lived. Okuyama now uses this place as his own studio, and has been photographing the flowers, as if he is recalling the light streaming in and the plants swaying in the garden, and retelling conversations with his grandmother that he did not often have.

The flowers, photographed on a small roll of 110 film (One Ten film), the same type of film used by his grandfather in the 1980s, blend in with the room's classic design and curtains, and are captivating with the free perspectives and angles from which the flowers are photographed.

In particular, he uses the painterly motif of the window to impress with the fluidity and freshness of the exterior and the dimness of the interior, superimposing himself and his grandmother in his gaze from inside to outside and his fluctuating perspective as he approaches the flowers in the light. The flowers reflected in the window and the flowers here. The flowers in the room on either side of the window and the flowers in the garden. Photographing flowers opens up countless dialogues.

A gaze from inside through a window facing one person emerges, while the photographs of spaces such as the kitchen, study, and bedroom that are woven into the works produce a heterogeneous perspective. Using a variety of cameras, including large-format contact sheets, medium-format cameras, 35mm, and Polaroids, the perspectives of her grandmother when she was alive, her late grandmother's drifting perspective, and her own perspective appear.

The overlapping gazes in a single photograph, and the layers of perspectives throughout the entire work, can be seen as a major endeavor in "flowers."

The gradation of time, with old family albums, the house and furniture that belonged to my grandmother, and the flowers blooming in the present, all blended together in one volume, is also expressed in the format and method of the photographs. On the one hand, there is a format that existed from the time when my grandmother was alive, on the other hand, there are scanned contact sheets and still images extracted from video footage. The layering of perspectives throughout the entire work is a major experiment in "flowers," and a wide range of time is breathed in the mixture of depth, gazes and sensations.

The flowers that appear in this book are flowers that would have been thrown away, but were provided by flower creator Emi Shinozaki (edenworks).

A hand appears occasionally holding a vase or offering flowers - these hands, which may be the artist's own or someone else's, touch each artist's memories.

Size: H261mm x W216mm
Page: 152 pages
Binding: Cloth Hardcover

*Although this item is new, the shrink wrap it came in has been removed, so please understand this when purchasing.