© Ryuichi Ishikawa
In this special exhibition featuring the work of Ryuichi Ishikawa, known for his series of raw photographs capturing his birth place of Okinawa and the people who inhabit it, we present images from the series that won him the Kimura Ihei award in 2015, as well as a look at a new development in the artistic expression of the artist ‒ a series in which the artist plunges headfirst with nothing but his own physical body and camera in hand to photograph mother nature firsthand.
For this series of photographs, the artist traveled through two of Japan’s mountain forests. Adhering to the rules of “Survival Mountain Climbing,” the artist threw himself into the wilderness without electronics or a tent, only the most basic supplies, and surviving off of only whatever could be found or hunted for food. Besides the rivers and trees found in the images, the photographs taken during this life-risking expedition contain nothing living ‒ certainly not humans, nor even animals. However, amidst these figures of truly natural surroundings, the minute subtleties of plants, the sun shining delicately through trees, and the seemingly negative images produced accidentally during moments of unseen noise, we sense a true, complete picture of the experiences that the artist endured during his expedition.
Within these photographs, we find nothing of the easy to understand symbols that we are used to seeing in his portraits, with the city and people and the busy movement that springs forth. Nature as is, a human being attempting to survive it, and the images of these two in complete conflict with one another ‒ the photographs that capture this relationship burst forth swollen with trepidation, and with the quietude of a silent film. Even trapped in darkness and without the use of his five senses, these images clearly reveal the figure of the artist and his will to live from within his inner world of his existence.
We hope you enjoy this unprecedented challenge against the abyss of individuality from this exceptional artist as he is separated from his roots of Okinawa, freed from the symbols of humankind, nature, and the city, and stands face to face with nature.
© Ryuichi Ishikawa
© Ryuichi Ishikawa
自らが生まれ育った沖縄や雑然とした都市に住まう人々をかつてない迫真性をもって捉えたシリーズで話題となった写真家・石川竜一が、カメラのみを頼りに、大自然に身を投じながら撮り続けた写真とはーー本展は、2015 年に木村伊兵衛写真賞を受賞した石川の最新作であり、彼の更なる進化を予期させる特別展示です。
この撮影に際し、彼は二つの日本国内の山林を巡りました。単に山を歩くのではなく、通常の登山で必要とされるテントや食料を持たずに、ごく最小限の装備だけを携えて、現地で捕獲した生き物を糧としながら自然の中に分け入りました。「サバイバル登山」とも呼ぶべき自分の生存を賭けた登山と並行して撮られた写真には、 人間はおろか、生き物の姿さえ写っていません。ただ、そうした自然のあるがままの姿や風に揺れる植物のささやかな機微、細やかに漏れ輝く光や、さらには嵐などの不意のアクシデントによりノイズに覆われてしまった画像も含め、そこで出会い体験したことのすべてを、偽りなく凄然ととどめています。
こうした写真からは、今までのポートレイトに見られたような都市の風景や独特の人物像などとは異なり、分かりやすい記号の類は一切排除されています。覆いかぶさるような自然と、そこを生き抜こうとする人間ーー そうしたせめぎあいの末に生まれた写真が、緊張感をはらみながら連なっていきます。暗闇に閉じ込められた人間が五感をもって自らの身体を相対化するように、石川は森の奥で自分自身を見つめ、自らの生の痕跡を写真にとどめていったとも言えるでしょう。
自らのルーツである沖縄から離れ、人間や都市、それを形作る一切の人工物から解き放たれた石川竜一の新境地を、ぜひご高覧ください。
