Join me as I glimpse sentiments of yesteryear throughout Japan! My art aims to illicit diffuse nostalgia using unorthodox photography.
About this project
UPDATE April 17th:
After hearing from my audience, I have decided to include the following photo book and environmental audio DVD rendering:
We have added a new backing level of $85 that includes all previous backing levels and the print version of this project! Thank you for helping me make this a reality!
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It will soon be summer in Japan, and the timing is just right...
WHAT I PROPOSE
This is a project to see the modern world differently, to catch sight of the age that makes our societies. I feel that the evolution of our cityscapes is often out of sync with the people and heritages that inhabit them, and that the resulting anachronisms can be beautiful. I hope to interpret these scenes and transport the viewer to places strangely displaced in time.
If funded, my project will send me to Japan this July to combine original photography with environmental audio recordings. I will concentrate on the emotive nature of each photo instead of clearly defined subjects, and therefore may incorporate elements of abstraction like dim lighting, soft focus, and loose context. The goal is to reproduce the dreamy atmosphere felt when you find yourself standing with one foot in two different times.
Some of the photography will be done with an old film camera, a Minolta SR-7 I bought used from a back-room shop during my last trip to Japan. Combined with the right black and white film, this camera produces strong shadows and blown out highlights that speak perfectly for the subject matter I am seeking. I captured several of these example photographs with this camera only a few years ago.
I want to bring this camera back to Japan and continue my exploration of the subtle time slips hiding around the edges of our lives. And importantly, I want to present what I find to my audience and have them make the same discoveries for themselves.
WHAT I WANT TO MAKE
The project will culminate with two completed works: an on-line gallery of sorts and a photo book. The web gallery will be free of distraction, just a seamless collection of well-designed pages, each with a single large photograph and accompanying soundtrack. Armed with a high fidelity 24bit/96 kHz Linear PCM Recorder, I will preserve approximately 30 minutes of the aural environment surrounding the location of each photoshoot, and in some cases, several hours. This will then be played back in a loop on the webpage with the accompanying photo so that the viewer can imagine standing within the scene while hearing the ambient noises flow around them.
The book will be an arrangement of photographs seemingly made in different time periods, mostly old but some futuristic. Please understand that I am not looking to emulate old daguerreotypes of post-war Japan or snap shots of banks of neon advertisements. I want to illustrate the evanescent happenstances that occur when people and things find themselves in harmony with each other but out of sync with the whole.
WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME
You are looking at this project's life spark. Whether or not we start a blaze is up to you! Truly, without your patronage, this project will always be a "what if?" Please help me to share these scenes that constantly leave me entranced. Funding will allow me to spend a month in Japan to build on this idea and produce the images I have described above. While on this journey, I will happily explain to you, my patrons, my detailed progress and findings through a purposely built blog.
The $8,500 goal in place is what's needed to cover basic travel costs, lots of film and developing, minimal living expenses during the photoshoot, and reward fulfillment.
Risks and challenges
Embarking on an adventure in another country can be challenging, but I deeply look forward to taking this journey. I've been to Japan numerous times in the past, speak basic Japanese, and have friends and relatives there prepared to lend a helping hand and make sure I stay out of trouble.
Besides my trusty Minolta SR-7, I have my main camera gear from my past job as a newspaper photographer to help brace myself against hardware setbacks. Weather-wise, July is part of Japan's rainy season, but stormy clouds will only help in my search for these ethereal moments!
As for reward fulfillment, I have carefully calibrated each level to ensure I will stay within budget while at the same time providing my patrons with something truly memorable.
Thank you for considering my project, and hopefully we'll have more to discus this July!
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Rewards
Funding period
- (30 days)