TAKUYA FUJIWARAExhibition Content:
The photographer has attended sporting events across Asia.
They vary from athletes playing in a huge stadium or gym, or practicing in a martial arts dojo, to children enjoying sports in an empty lot next to an expressway or off-street park.
He has witnessed a scene where cows were slowly walking beside people fascinated with a sporting event. At Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, junior high school students were playing volleyball in a movable court constructed above a boat, using string as a net.
Nowadays in Japan, it may be difficult to enjoy just playing catch, however, the photographer realized that sports are deeply ingrained in the lives of Asians.
Throughout Asia, sporting events are a vital part of people’s lives.
This exhibition captures moments when the photographer met sports in everyday situations.
Color: 13 works
Comments:
The photographer walked around Asian countries -India and more than a dozen countries in southeastern Asia- and recorded scenes where people were enjoying sports. The uniqueness of this expression is that it is considered and constructed as a scroll, as you can see from the title, using vertically long frames (1x 4 to 10) instead of normal photo frames. With the camera as the point of origin, the view is of almost 360 degrees. The heart of the works is people enjoying sports, but the photographer also captures the facial expressions of spectators, sports facilities and the towns surrounding the subjects at the same level.
Not just discovering the physical movements and forms of the sports, the society that supports and surrounded them is also revealed in all its fascination. These may sound like secondary images, however, the way in which the photographer has shot these surroundings is at the core of this exhibition.
The photographer captured images of enjoyable sports being played in streets or other open spaces, not just in formal sports venues like a stadium or an athletics field. These scenes really project an image of Asian countries nowadays. In the days before sport was institutionalized and commercialized, it was always just for enjoyment. Similar times that the people of Japan used to enjoy more often are recalled.
The excellent shooting skill required to connect the photographs horizontally and the technical skills used for the quality photo retouch by computer both support this impressively high-quality exhibition.
TAKUYA FUJIWARA profile
Born in Shizuoka in 1987.
Attended an interscholastic athletic competition for basketball when in high school
Joined a photo fieldwork course at Nippon Photography Institute in 2009 and visited 10 Asian countries in 180 days.
Graduated Nippon Photography Institute in 2010.
Now works at a bridal shooting company “Biko shaen”.
