Artist
Statement
These images represent surreal moments that I see
in everyday life. On the street, or wherever I go, the hidden side
of ordinary things attract my eye.
To me, photography is a tool to expand ways of seeing the mysteries
that I used to see easily when I was a little child. I am not interested
in a documentation of reality, but I recognize my photography as
its own imaginative reality.
As adults, we are forced to face to one big reality that everybody
shares in the society. Our life styles with advanced technologies
have taken away the abilities to see the everyday magic.; we are
too busy to play with our own inner realities.
With my body of work, I have tried to collect and portray my inner
reality of the subconscious world. I have never been able to use
words to explain or express the unexpected feelings that I get from
the visions of mysteries. My own reality takes place between the
outside world and my imaginary world. I have to catch the "visions
of the other side" carefully with my camera before they disappear.
If we open mind's eye widely, it is possible to see surreal moments
that bring a fresh air into everyday life; poetic mysteries can
be everywhere.
The images are created as straight, and non-staged. I used traditional
35mm camera with Tri-X 400 films, and all the images are printed
as silver gelatin on 16"x 20" Agfa classic fiber base
paper.
Reiko
Imoto