These images were created at the heart of the Nebuta Matsuri held in Nakano in October 2023.
Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is a major festival in the Tōhoku region, designated as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
It is an incredible parade of costumed dancers (haneto 跳人), taiko 太鼓 players and huge floats, shimmering in color and lit up at night.
As a sign of support for this region of northeastern Japan, which was devastated by the terrible earthquake of 2011, Nakano Town Hall in Tōkyō has been organizing its own festival since 2012 under the name “Nakano Festival to Support Tōhoku”, where Aomori’s Nebuta Matsuri takes place in October every year.
“It is a wave that you feel deep inside your body. The drums beating with all their power, the crowd in effervescence, the colorful dances, sometimes jerky and sometimes delicate, the flute tunes that pierce this orderly din, everything is so energetic that the senses are sucked into this whirlwind of fervor. In the midst of this bubbling, it seems as if this visual and sonic material is melting together. Letting myself be carried along by the current of this lively crowd, I try to capture, with my camera, this exaltation, this bubbling mass of individuals gathered for this marvelous festival. Here and there, with long breaths from my shutter, I record faces, hands, colors, dancers, percussionists in action, and all this visual material accumulates in successive layers on my sensor, like those of a painter on his canvas, to restore all the density and depth of the scene. These eighteen photographs are excerpts from the sixty that tell the poetic story of Aomori’s Nebuta Matsuri.“
You can enlarge the image by zooming[Ctrl] and [+]
Photographs ささやき 2023, on sale to benefit the victims of 01.01.24 of Wajima
After the violent earthquake in Japan that hit the Noto Peninsula on 01.01.2024,I decided to offer two photographs for a charity sale to benefit the victims of Wajima, because I felt it was necessary for this work, which is closely linked to the earthquake of 05.05.2023, to contribute, however modestly, to the reconstruction of the town of Wajima.
Half the proceeds will be donated to the Wajima Disaster Relief Organization. ・The first half corresponds to my royalties and remuneration. ・The second half corresponds to the running costs of my Studio, taxes and charges as well as the costs of Fine Art paper and pigment ink.
Would you be interested in making this donation? Please click on the link below:
!! My wife being Japanese, the donation will be directly redistributed by Japanese bank transfer to the Japanese Red Cross in Ishikawa Prefecture, as soon as the artwork has been delivered to you. We will provide you with the certificate of proof of the deposit made in Yen by my wife !!
Characteristics of the 2 works
Title work left: ささやき 0x608EBF51 Title work on the right: ささやき 0x604ABB51 (Sold out) Year: 2023 Copy: #2/3 (Limited edition 3 copies + 1AP) Dimensions: 30x30cm Technique: In situ long exposure digital photography Nikon DF camera with Nikkor H-85mm f1.8 Printing: Pigment inks on Hahnemühle paper Fine Art Bright White Rag 310g Signature: Signed on back Certificate of Authenticity: Yes Frame: Light oak box with museum glass Note: Very discreet imperfections visible on the edge of the frame (-10% discount deducted) Free: My “Spirituelles Odyssées” author’s book (€35 value)
But why offer these two photographic works in aid of the victims of Wajima?
When I visited Japan during the spring of 2023, I went to Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa on the night of May 4-5. It was a full moon night and I heard a symphony of natural elements. These hundred-year-old trees, these lakes that have spanned the dynasties and this moon so radiant, brought me the sensation of being on the stage of a theater nō.
The energy I captured that night was so strong, so radiant, so penetrating that the beauty of nature was sublimated, and its complicity with the cosmos clearly understood. It seemed that all this beauty was in motion, and that it was entering a marvellous, supernatural dance.
A few hours later, I was on my way by bus to Suzu in the north of the Noto Peninsula, when we were suddenly stopped in our tracks on May 5, 2023 at 2:42 pm by a violent 6.5 magnitude earthquake, which were followed by numerous aftershocks over a 24-hour period.
I then realized that, that night, in Kenroku-en Park, I had picked up the whisper of an earthquake.
I then decided to call this photographic work ささやき (sasayaki), which means “murmurs “.
As chance would have it, or rather the synchrony of events or an order that eludes us, I subsequently exhibited two photographs from this series at the Gallery Ville A des Arts in Paris with UNESCO’s CNFAP in October 2023.
When I learned on January 1, 2024, that a magnitude 7.6 earthquake had struck the same spot at 16:10 Japan time, I was stunned and overwhelmed.
All the impressions I’d felt during the aftershocks suddenly came back to me, the whole night after we’d tried to sleep on the 9th floor of a hotel on the harbor in the town of Wajima, now devastated by this latest earthquake, in fear of a possible tsunami.
I also felt a great deal of compassion for the Japanese people affected, who had suddenly become homeless, injured or victims, but also a great deal of sadness for this small town where we had wandered with our friends through the pretty streets of the morning market and its atmosphere, which seemed so timeless.
This photographic work consists of just twelve photographs. Twelve images of such density that you don’t need much more to understand the vibratory beauty of this whisper.
The two photographs I’m offering for sale here were exhibited in Paris in October 2023. While the others are waiting for a new story to tell before being shown again.
It seemed obvious to me that this work, in direct resonance with the May 2023 earthquake, had to play a part, however humbly, in Wajima City’s victim relief efforts.
I am happy to announce the MURMURS exhibition organized by the CNFAP at the La Ville A des Arts gallery in Paris 18th from 4.10 to 15.10.2023 and bringing together 41 visual artists who will express themselves on the theme of murmurs. A Vernissag will be held on this occasion on October 3 at 6:30 p.m. 🥂✨
Participating artists: Ayasaky Rikka – Barrovecchio Luc – Bauer Caroline – Belin Hélène – Bismuth Mélina – Blauth Lurdi – Braun Guy – Brebel Catherine – Bry Christine – Burdeos Rosa – Collandre Françoise – Dubois Tristan – Dudret Geneviève – Edouard André – Ferru Magdéleine – Fourmestraux Éric – François Claudine – Gendre-Bergère Christine – Gérodez Jean-Claude – Gehand Annie – Guyon Spennato Elizabeth – Jäggi Andreas – Kouninioti Catherina – Koyama-Meyer Stéphane – Lambrechts Marc – Loquen Claudine – Lorsa – Nassor Carine – NEL – Pedeau-Said Geneviève – Pelouze Anny – Petr Éric – Pichereau Alain – Pourny Anne – Sartori Ana – Searle Patrick – Shahnaei Najine – Souliotis Dimitrios – Sustrac Bernard – Tralongo Pauline – Vuerich Franco
§ § §
USEFUL INFORMATIONS
The Ville A des Arts 15 rue Hégésippe Moreau 75018 Paris Metro Place de Clichy lines 2 & 13
Open every day: from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free entry access Presence of artists on site
The French National Council for the Plastic Arts is the French National Committee that officially represents France in the IAAA (International Association of the Plastic Arts), an NGO under the auspices of UNESCO, and issues a professional artist card. Under the impulse of the General Direction of Arts and Letters of the Ministry of National Education, the CNFAP was created in 1956. It includes, among its founding members, 20 eminent artists, including : Georges BRAQUE, Roger CHAPELAIN-MIDY, André DUNOYER de SEGONZAC, Marcel GROMAIRE, Marie LAURENCIN, André LHOTE…
Click to download the poster
ささやき 0x608EBF51
MY EXHIBITED ARTWORK
The two exhibited works are part of a short photographic novella「ささやき」produced in Japan in May 2023.
ささやき (Sasayaki), in Japanese, means “MurmurS”, the title of the theme “Murmures” in French.
These photographs are, for those who know how to listen to silence, the murmur of nature.
While my photographic artwork tirelessly questions the murmurs of the universe, I did not think that the waves that I captured that night in Kanazawa, in dialogue with the moon, transmitted to me a vibration heralding the 6.5 magnitude earthquake which occurred a few hours later, on May 5, 2023 at 2:42 p.m. in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Everything is just a murmur of these waves which constantly pass through us and transmit to us in their infinite trajectory, the echo of the World, if indeed we can interpret it.
Photographs, Hahnemühle B&R Rag 310g paper, light oak wooden box and anti-reflective and anti-UV museum glass. From left to right (below): ささやき 0x608EBF51 (2023) 30x30cm #1/3 (+1AP) and ささやき 0x604ABB51 (2023) 30x30cm #1/3 (+1AP)
The New Realities exhibition | Paris Kyōto 2023 Hors les Murs
The exhibition of NEW REALITIES > PARIS KYŌTO < [abstract works on paper] held at the KYŌTO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HOUSE (KOKOKA) in the city of Kyōto from April 26 to 30, 2023, during the Kyōtographie International Festival, was an event nurtured by some very fine encounters. A mainly Japanese public came to see this exhibition, encouraging a highly constructive exchange in the spirit of opening up art and culture beyond national borders.
An opening ceremony was held on April 26, the day of the Vernissage, by Mr Fujita Hiroyuki, Director of the Kokoka hosting the exhibition, and Mr Jun Sato, organizer of the Réalités Nouvelles event. Also for this occasion, Mrs. Mikiko Tanaka, Member of the Kyōto Prefectural Assembly, and Mr. Masayoshi Imamura came to arrange two sumptuous bouquets of flowers that lit up the space throughout this magnificent exhibition. This event was also an opportunity to welcome an elementary school class, and drawing workshops and exchanges with the artists were organized to raise awareness of abstract art among this very young audience.
Video presentation of the exhibition at the end of the hangingFloral arrangement by Mikiko Tanaka さん and Masayoshi Imamura さんThe Artists (from left to right): Akane Masano さん, Shigekazu Tonomura さん, Yasushi Furutake さん (visiting artist), Éric Petr and Okayoko さん
ARTISTS OF NEW REALITIES 🇫🇷 Mohamed AKSOUH Sandrine ARS-COIGNARD Maria ARVELAIZ-GORDON Joanick BECOURT Milija BELIC Roger BENSASSON Joël BESSE Christine BOIRY Francesc BORDAS Claire BORDE Caroline BOUCHER Carol-Ann BRAUN Jeanne CHARTON Anne COMMET Ralph CUTILLO Claire DE CHAVAGNAC Diane DE CICCO DELNAU Olivier DI PIZIO Bernard DIDELLE Philippe Henri DOUCET Gilles DROUIN Yannick DUBLINEAU Sahar FOROUTAN Alain GUILLON Héloïse GUYARD Frédéric HENNINGER Stefanie HEYER Ingrid HORNEF Mary-Christine JALADON Bernard JEUFFROY Françoise KULESZA Erik LEVESQUE Alain LONGUET Pascal MAHOU Cristina MARTINEZ Sylvie MARY Jean-Paul MEISER Celia MIDDLEMISS Munira NAQUI Jean NAVAILH Roland ORÉPÜK Paola PALMERO Ana PÉREZ VENTURA Éric PETR Laurence REBOH Jun SATO Marie-Françoise SERRA Madeleine SINS Bogumila STROJNA François SUPIOT Sandrine THIÉBAUD-MATHIEU Marine VU Jacques WEYER
THE PLACE
Kyoto International Community House (kokoka) 2-1 Torii-cho, Awataguchi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8536 JAPAN tel : +8175-752-3010 https://www.kcif.or.jp/
I am happy to be invited to this beautiful event and I will present for this exhibition on abstraction a new photographic work in 3 copies printed on matte cotton fiber paper of 40x55cm.
I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you at the opening 🙂 During our exhibition, the International Festival of Photography “KYOTOGRAPHIE” will take place in Kyōto from 15.04 to 15.05.2023 and you can also see other exhibitions on this occasion.
I am very happy to know that my photographic story 「地電流」has been featured on CORRIDOR ÉLÉPHANT photography exhibitions!
地電流, in Japanese, means telluric current.
This photographic work highlights the perceived feeling, when one lives in Japan, of these enigmatic forces which make the identity of Japanese culture. I relate this dull telluric energy to images that respond to some of these vibrations as if it were, in a way, a topological ultrasound.
