Urbanautica: KOICHI NISHIYAMA

The words and images proposed this week by Urbanautica for Manfrotto, are taken from the special interview with Japanese designer and photographer Koichi Nishiyama. Born 1968, Koichi studied graphic design and contemporary art before starting and studying photography seriously. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Japan since 1992 and has published a video of animation in 2005.

«Artists who take photographs in this age always fight against the sense of already seen. This may be the feeling shared by artists all over the world. When we express something, it is immediately given an index and categorized. While growing up, I have seen much Western and Japanese art as well as many photographs and movies. I have been influenced a lot by them and I know by myself that I live in the continuum of their history. Nonetheless, I hope to be humble and acknowledge that I have not seen the whole world. I don’t know whether everyone should know every corner of the world, but it is an undeniable truth that, even when there are an overflowing number of cameras in this world, there are a lot of things that have not been photographed yet. Regardless of art or photography, I only believe in works coming out of each creator’s innermost motivation. I don’t think that such deepest parts of people have already been wholly uncovered.»

«Some Japanese photographers have journalistic points of views and others try to express their inner visions. So many photographers and so many viewpoints, but it seems in general that they are required to reflect something belonging to this age. On the other hand, you can also approach the essence of the inexplicable media called photography by selecting reticent objects such as landscapes. Self-criticism is also valued there in some parts. This approach seems to be disengaged from the society, but it also has social aspects, for it tells us a grandiose story about our society from the 20th century.However, I received this question several months ago, and before responding to it, there have been severe disasters in Japan. We have witnessed landscapes losing their reticence and changing their qualities.These disasters may affect Japanese photographers to face landscapes from different points of view.Increasing number of works may be created on the assumption that we believed we had built a well-off and safe society but actually we are living an uncertain life on a vulnerable land.»

«Maybe there are too many words and meanings in our daily lives. I don’t shut myself away from the society like a monk and I even have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Living in Tokyo, I am surrounded by various human relationships. However, in those things we call art or photography, we can find a lot of predecessors’ works which still talk a lot out of silence. These works have added very happy moments to my life. Such happiness means to me being true to myself and free from any disguise. For me, art and photography represent one of a few places where I can be honest to myself and let my guard down.»

Written by Urbanautica

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www.koichinishiyama.com