Process

These were the initial pool of images that I had drafted. I instinctinly chose these images based on a rough idea, which can be read from my artist statement below.

I did not edit these images as I err more towards a purist approach when it comes to photography. I wanted to document the snapshot in its purest moments.

Inspiration

For this series of images, I aligned myself with the snapshot aesthetic and more commonly found in pool of Japanese photographers. Photographers above such as Kenya Sugai and Motoyuki Daifu uses this technique to a great effect.

Artist Statement:

The subjects of the images could possess qualities that convey particular emotions. A sense of fear may be relieved through an image of dark room or surprise can be depicted by a shocked expression as a result of public accident/prank. A sense of sadness depicted through a first person view of a funeral. The images of realness, of being within a moment, derived from a real life subject matter feels real.

The overall narrative and flow of these images can flirt with the possibility of mixed emotions. The ability to deconstruct possible emotions and re-tangle them through visual imagery. Series of images that showcases no form of linear narrative but introduces a series of dynamic emotions, ensures no form of direct emotional representation. To me a dog is a sign of fear but to others it is a sign of happiness. And yet, the dog possesses signifiers that surprises me even after the initial moment of fear.

These subject matters are often overlooked. These are photos that we do not take. Matters that look banal on the surface but drives a more complex thought underneath. We are surrounded by these subjects but they seem to matter less.

These series of images, should look low-res/lo-fi. The reasoning focuses on the concept of a snapshot – a more apt and vivid form of photographic expression of being ‘in the moment’. Personally, it would be interesting if we introduced elements of fun and cheekiness into the images. Making it look kitsch or basic – shot with an iPhone would introduce new and exciting artistic elements.

The iPhone snapshot increases the realness of these images/subjects. To make it look everyday suggest low effort but does not mean low quality or meaningless. These banal subjects are of the everyday and everything around us. We find happiness in retrieving and looking back family snapshots from a holiday. Crooked, badly exposed and more often than not with bad framing. And yet these images are the ones most valuable to us. These are opportunities that only arise in a moment. There is no chance tor retake/re-shoot; because the feeling will be lost.

And perhaps this approach towards the quotidian is one that I want to focus on. These images are not staged, curated (per se) or rely on traditional ideas of an ‘impactful’ image. These subjects are things that I came across, or an experience I had to face. The realness matters because it is the everyday. A universal aspect that everyone will seemingly encounter but never discover.

This is photography of the vernacular. And these are moments that I will never be able to relive and retake. It is a kind of photography purely driven by intuition, desire and to convey emotions in a brisk moment.

Artist references: Stephen Shore (Instagram), Lost Images, Kenya Sugai