After presenting a work in progress yesterday and explaining my idea to include the concept of the red string to bring all the elements of my work together, my tutor pointed out that I have missed one very important connection. Yoshikatsu Fuji has also done a project titled Red String! (1) This project also makes reference to the legend of the red string, and it is bound together by red thread. The combination of types of photos that constitute the book’s content also resonate with my work.
This is an extract from the artist’s statement;
In Japan, legend has it that a man and woman who are predestined to meet have been tied at the little finger by an invisible red string since the time they were born. Unfortunately, the red string tying my parents together came undone, broke, or perhaps was never even tied to begin with. But if the two had never met, I would never have been born into this world. If anything, you might say that there is an unbreakable red string of fate between parent and child.
The red string is also used to attach smaller images and notes to the book- this is how I had envisioned attaching the SMS messages to my own book.
I also found a flip through video (2) of this book. I like the way that it opens out from the centre, and one side pertains to the mother, and one to the father. It has a very scrapbook-esque feel to it, whilst still retaining a sense of polish. I particularly like the sewn-in notes, and the inclusion of drawings and letters. There are also a mixture of busier, or full bleed pages and pages with plenty of negative space. These add a flow to the book that prevents repetition and allows for tension and release. Below the video I have posted some screenshots of elements that I liked, or layouts that I want to take note of for future reference.
Revisiting Susan Sontag’s On Photography, after having not read it for many years. Here are some notes from the chapter titled In Plato’s Cave. A lot of the points raised relate to my current photography project, particularly those regarding photography being a ‘pseudo-presence,’ and photographs being ‘invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.’
‘To collect photographs is to collect the world.’ p.3.
‘To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.’ p.4.
Writing and painting are perceived as ‘statements.’ Photographs are not statements but ‘pieces of the world,’ as they have a sense of truth to them. They are ‘miniatures of reality.’ p.4.
Photobooks - cannot control the order that the images are viewed in, or the time spent viewing each image. p.5.
Photographs furnish evidence. ‘Proof that a given thing happened.” p.5.
Photographs are an interpretation of the world- includes photographer’s bias, opinion, choices in framing etc. p.6-7.
‘Photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal.’ p.9.
Camera provides a ‘process’ for travel. p.10. - Stop, shoot, move on. - Put the camera between self and experience. - Appeals to ruthless work ethic (Germans, Japanese) as it imitates work but is ‘fun.’
Taking photos ‘levels the meaning of all events.’ p.11.
Event ends but picture still exists –> immortality of the event. p 11.
‘The person who intervenes cannot record. The person who records cannot intervene.’ p.12.
Photography encourages whatever is happening to keep happening. p.12.
Camera as a weapon. Predatory. p.14.
‘A photograph is a pseudo-presence and a token of absence.’ p.16.
‘Photographs cannot create a moral position, but they can reinforce one.’ p.17.
We can become numb to shock value of photographs. Eg: repeated exposure to war photographs makes the subject feel less real. Makes it remote, “it’s only a photograph.” p.21.
‘Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.’ p.23.
‘Having an experience becomes identical to taking a photograph of it.’ p.24.
Sontag, S, 2001, On Photography, 1st edn, Penguin, London.
Since I began thinking about 赤い糸 and how I could represent this visually, I’ve been so inspired to create work! I have been doing a lot of experimenting and playing with combinations of images over the past few days, and feel as if my project is really starting to come together both visually, and in terms of a narrative or story.
I photographed red string in various positions, and also used a needle to sew it through plain paper. I then photographed the string, and used Photoshop to add it to different images and see how it looked. I was really pleased with the initial results, and spend around 7 hours just playing and fiddling that day.
Then I thought about how I could incorporate the chat messages between Shinya and I, and I came up with a small layout which included an image of the two of us (taken from our Facebook accounts), with a message and some string stitches. I feel that these have a scrapbook or diary feel to them, and the inclusion of the photo gives it the sense of recollection, or trying not to forget. The messages do not relate to the images specifically, but they do contrast the past and present (images from the past, and messages from more recent times.) Additionally, the images capture times that we were physically together and enjoying ourselves, whereas the messages have a sad, concerned, or longing tone to them. I turned them black and white so that they were consistent, and I thought the red bubbles were distracting.
After playing around with these images, I also tried turning them black and white to give them a stronger sense of uniformity. That also allowed the red string to stand out more. I’m not yet sure if I would prefer to go with colour or black and white images.
After looking at lots of photobooks that included news print, or found images, I also wanted to play with the idea that these we kind of ‘archival’ images by altering their clarity and quality. I did this by using various pixellation filters in Photoshop. They all have a slightly different effect and feel. I think that the Mezzotint gives the image an archival newspaper feel, whilst the Mosaic evokes thoughts of privacy or censorship. The effect I like most if Fragment, because it makes your eyes struggle to see the image. It is almost in focus, but not quite. Like 90% of the information is there but we can’t make a clear picture. This reminds me of times when I have tried to recall a memory, and am almost successful, but it is not 100% there. Like it’s fuzzy around the edges. It’s a frustrating uncomfortable feeling, and I want to experiment with this further to push the idea of perhaps failing to perfectly recall my life or times when Shinya and I were physically together.
I also started playing around with some combinations of images that might look good as book layouts. I want to decide on maybe 3-4 layouts and keep them consistent throughout the book, but for now I am still in an experimental stage. I do like the addition of the text messages here too, as I think they add character to the images, even if they are taken out of context. I feel that this also allows the audience to try to draw connections between the images and the text, and perhaps imagine what backstory may have led to the message.
In the set below, the photo of the hole punched card has significance as this was my residency card in Japan (all foreigners must have one and carry it at all times.) When you give up your visa status and/or leave the country, your residency card is hole-punched and becomes redundant. The stamp on the bottom right states that the card holder (ie: me) is in a state of ‘searching for a place permanent residency,’ and I thought that also added meaning to the image.
Vasantha Yogananthan’s series, Life Stands Still, is a small body of work that was only recently created. It’s also one of the few pieces that I have discovered lately that I feel very connected to. This is because the mood and aesthetic that is conveyed is very similar to that which I am trying to replicate in my own imagery. These images have a very soft and quiet aesthetic, that evoke a sense of stillness. The mood reminds me of that of Rinko Kawauchi’s work, and the two artists also share a similar colour palette.
What I also love about this series is the date and time stamp at the bottom of each image. This inclusion of text not only links the series together, but helps to convey the sense of the passing of time. I didn’t realise that these were taken very recently until I had viewed the entire series, and discovered a statement that said the images were taken during a period of isolation brought on by COVID-19. Below is the statement from Yogananthan’s website;
I found another photographer using a similar technique to me! I thought that I was thinking quite creatively when I decided to photograph Shinya by directing him through his laptop’s webcam, but it turns out that I’m not the only one with that idea. Fran Monks also started a similar project, speaking to subjects through Skype and then photographing them. She also gets them to place their laptop where she wants them too (to control the background), however instead of taking the photo with a screenshot (like I am doing), she is using her camera to photograph her screen (you can see Monks taking a photo in the top right of every image.)
In an interview with Joshua Barajas, Monks comments on her technique, “I ask people to show me around their rooms, and then I want to have side light. And I want to try and capture some of the environment. And beyond that, I have to be much less perfectionist than I would normally be because I would be trying to frame — I quite like simple backgrounds and not too many distractions — but you can’t do that.”
What I particularly like about this work is the face that the photographer connects with the subject and learns about their story before taking their picture. I think this gives the image an intimacy, which is also reflected in the nature of photographing the inside of someone’s house.
Text was always going to play a role in my final work, but I didn’t realise how many different ways it can be implemented effectively until after a discussion on the usage of text on Monday. As my work is diaristic in nature, I have toyed with the idea of including diary entires or personal hand written notes since the idea for my folio was born. However as I moved into incorporating the idea of technology as a vehicle for intimacy within a relationship, that was soon replaced with the idea of using digital text.
Below are some of the photobooks that were included in the discussion, and that caught my attention. Due to the current lockdown situation, I am not able to view these in person, but was able to find them on the internet. I have particularly chosen to post these three books as sources of inspiration because of their use of text, which I feel is effective in all three.
First notable mention is Mathieu Asselin’s Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation (1). What I liked about the text in this book is that it adds more information to the images if the viewer wants it, but it is not intrusive to the images if the viewer would prefer just to focus on the visuals. It also suits the nature of the book, as a journalistic approach to the subject matter. It gives the images an additional weight, or truth to them. I also liked how just headlines, or parts of newspapers were incorporated into the layouts.
The second book is were it not for byMichael Ashkin (2). This text usage is fictive, but I think it helps the book flow and work together as a cohesive series, even though the subject matter and the lines of text do not necessarily relate. The the bottom of each page, there is the line of text ‘were it not for …’ with a scenario or noun placed after the ‘for.’ The images do not relate to the sentences, but the interplay between what is written and what is shown in the images sparks the viewer’s imagination and invites them to make connections. I do not see myself using fictive writing in my own photobook, although I am questioning the authenticity of what is written online between couples, so maybe I am writing fiction, posed as fact?
Greys The Mountain Sends (3) also arose as an example of text used only at the beginning of a photobook. Photographer Bryan Schutmaat opens the series with a poem, and lets that set the tone for the body of work without any other text intruding on the images. Although I plan to intertwine text into my work more than this, I like the quiet mood of the images in this series.
Finally, I was drawn to the presentation of Holy Bible by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin (4). Here, the photographers make a direct copy of the actual bible, and plaster images on top of it. This collage style interests me, particularly as the relationship between what is written on each page, and the images that were chosen to stick over the top make strong statements.
After class I did some more research on photobooks in general, and came across the work of Hinda Schuman (5). Her photobook, Dear Shirley, also uses text. This is in the form of typed and signed documents, and also handwritten notes. I felt that this resonated with my work, as the images and text explore interpersonal relationships. I find it interesting that sometimes the text takes an entire page, sometimes it is a handwritten note under an image, and sometimes it is overlaid on top of a full page bleed.
In continuing the thought process of incorporating red string into my work, I researched other artists who include a tactile element in their photography. I found the work of fine art photographer Linda Alterwitz on Lenscratch (1), and like the way that she incorporates fabric and string into her images, giving them an additional layer of interest and meaning.
I particularly like the subtlety of the additions, which ensures that they enhance the original images and do not detract from them. In the last image I have copied here, you cannot even see the thread unless you specifically look for it.
The article (2) on Lenscratch that accompanies the work includes a statement from Alterwitz on the meaning behind the addition of fabric and string. I think the entire process is very interesting, but also relevant to the work.
“I begin the creative process by photographing and printing places within the natural environment that I consider my personal sanctuary. To provide a representation of human thoughts and emotions, I utilized data output from electroencephalogram (EEG) testing used to analyze electrical activity of the human brain. The data was derived from file records of EEG testing of distressed brains as a visualization of the inconsistencies and aberrations of human thoughts and emotions. The EEG test data was printed directly onto cotton gauze material of the kind used to cover wounds. The gauze “veils” were hand sewn onto archival pigment prints utilizing surgical thread made from nylon monofilament, partially or completely covering the images beneath.
This unique combination of materials echo human emotional responses of pain, healing, vulnerability and protection, reflecting common grounds shared with the health of our planet and society. Ultimately, this work was created to help connect and reinforces the symbiotic relationships that exist within the natural environment, society and the individual.
Each work is constructed by the artist with elements that are created and hand applied with a slight variance. Each piece is signed by the artist en verso.” (Alterwitz, 2019.)
Mayumi Suzuki’s photobook, The Restoration Will, was recommended to me recently, and I think it has become one of the most influential photobooks I have seen to date. The work is not only through provoking, personal, and beautiful, but the layout of the book is effective too. The body of work was taken after the 2011 tsunami in Tohoku, Japan, and included in the series are images taken with Suzuki’s father’s camera, which was uncovered from the rubble of what was once his photo studio. This is combined with damaged family photographs, and images of the destruction.
The scars on the recovered snapshots sometimes looked like the peninsula on a map. The pacific coast of northern Japan has been the victim of a tsunami many times, including the Meiji Sanriku tsunami in 1896, the Showa Sanriku tsunami in 1933 and a large tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile, South America in 1960. I tried to visualize these images by making a layer with my scarred family snapshot and the geographic map for my book. (Suzuki, 2018.)
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What I really liked about the layout of the book was that it had special features (like a fold out page, or a single images stuck on top of a page like a flap), but there were not too may of them that it became overwhelming or took away from the flow of the book. It seems at though each special feature has purpose. For example, a photo of the camera that was found is under a flap that must be lifted up, and this flap is part of a full page photo of the rubble. I feel that this represents the discovery of the camera amongst the rubble.
I have been looking at the presentation of a lot of photobooks recently, and I think that sometimes the styles of layout become too erratic. Sometimes, this chaos suits the theme of the book, but other times having to open flaps this way and that way, sliding out inserts and then looking at a smaller book slid into a pocket becomes frustrating. I think that this photobook has a good balance. Each special feature is a discovery.
I also looked at Suzuki’s other works, and particularly liked this image (above) from her ongoing series titled The Place To Belong (4). I particularly like how the line drawing connects the two photographs. This is something that I would like to experiment with in my own wok, although I am not sure how I would incorporate it yet. I do like to draw (although I am not good at it), and sometimes draw things for Shinya- so perhaps it could have some kind of connection? The inclusion of little illustrations or sketches also adds to the personalised feel of the work, and is reflective of a diary or journal, so I don’t think it would be out of place. Of course, I would need to ensure that this is just a small element of the work as a whole. It would need to support and enhance the other work, and not stand out or overshadow the rest of the imagery.
I’ve had a breakthrough! I think I have thought of the element that is going to “tie” my work together (pun intended.)
Whilst viewing Jim Goldberg’s photobook Open See (1), via an online video flip-through (2), I was simultaneously thinking of one of my original ideas to incorporate mixed media into my work (by writing on photographs or photographing and adding other elements.) I was not particularly engaged with Goldberg’s work in terms of inspiration for my own folio, however when the below pages were displayed I was drawn to the inclusion of the tape, as well as the writing.
For some reason, this reminded me of some work I produced in the final year of my Advanced Diploma, which incorporated images and digitally drawn red lines. This series was titled Red Lines. In the same year I also produced a series where I printed and cut up images, and then used thread and needles to sew them back together.
Now on to the revelation part- Red Thread!
I just had this sudden idea to visually “tie” the images in my series together using reg thread (perhaps photographed on white, or photoshopped “into” images as if they had been sewn onto the page. Out of interest, I quickly searched for “significance of red thread Japan,” and it does have a deep cultural significance that i was unaware of.
赤い糸
There is an old story, or part of folklore in Japanese culture called 赤い糸 (akai ito - red thread.) This originally came from a story from China, but has been adapted to Japanese become common in culture too. The basic premise of the legend is that two people are connected by an invisible red string (in China it is attached to their ankle, but in the Japanese version it is ties to their pinky fingers) and they are soulmates. (3) The further away the two are, the sadder they are, but they are destined to meet one day. Additionally, ‘the red thread can stretch or tie but will never break, and that no matter how long it takes, the two persons tied by it will eventually meet.’ (4) It also means that if the two are separated, ‘they would still be able to find their way back to one another.’ (5).
I was also interested to learn that there is a tattoo trend where couples get a small red bow tattooed onto their pinky finger to symbolise connection and bond. (5)
There are many references to this akai ito in Japanese culture, particularly in anime and manga. It is also heavily referenced in the 2016 film Your Name (君の名は in Japanese.) In this film the thread connects the two main characters not only across physical distance, but through time. I am actually using this book (6) to assist my Japanese reading practice at the moment, so realising these connections feels quite timely.
(1) Goldberg, J, 2009, Open See, Steidl & Partners, Göttingen.
Some notes from Doing Visual Ethnography by Sarah Pink (1).
“Pure image” and “pure word” are not viable. p.21.
A purely visual approach to culture cannot exist. p.21.
Ethnography is an approach to experiencing, interpreting and representing culture and society. Creating and representing knowledge based on the ethnographer’s own experiences. p.22.
Not objective. Subjective (but loyal to experience.) p.23.
Any experience is never just one thing. Open to interpretation. p.23.
Reality is subjective and is known only as it is experienced by individuals. p.24.
Gender, age, perception of photographer etc impacts how images and technology can be used. p.24.
Modern / “conventional” ethnographic research oppresses female approach to knowledge. p.26.
Female gaze, male gaze, colonial gaze. p.27.
4 contexts of fieldwork; fieldwork being carried out in the domestic interior, mobility of informants, online “field”, human imagination and dreams as a “field.” p.28-31.
Is it possible to observe and record reality? Visible ≠ true. p.31.
Research on people vs research with people. p.32.
Reality cannot necessarily be observed visually. p.32.
Images produced by individual photographers express the shared notions of the individual’s society. p.35.
Individuals produce images that respond/ refer to established connections that have developed in and between existing ‘visual cultures.’ p.35.
Categories of photography (amateur, professional, family snapshot, etc.) are culturally constructed and individually understood and experienced. p.36.
The distinction between categories is ambiguous. They can be in multiple categories simultaneously. p.36-37.
Extraction of knowledge form informants < co-production of knowledge. p.39.
(1) Pink, S 2007, Doing Visual Ethnography, Sage Publications Ltd., London
