shashasha

First exhibited at Emon Photo Gallery in 2009, Osamu Yokonami’s _100 Children _represents the beginnings of the photography project which would later see him expand the portraits of 100 children to 1000 children in 2014. Inspired by the innocence and purity symbolic of childhood and youth, Osamu Yokonami began photographing his 100 Children project after visiting Thailand 7 years ago on commission for a children’s magazine. There the idea of combing fruit within his portraits began, using this influence, Osamu creates portraits filled with stillness yet juxtaposed with the presence of the natural. The image is minimal, the singular use of uniformity within the portraits gives a sense of ’oneness’ to the project as a whole, however much like the statues of Buddha within Sanjusangendo located in Kyoto, the initial sense of uniformity gives way to the individual. There is an energy which pulls you in upon viewing the works, placed in a grid like formation, the seemingly endless flow of portraits give off the subtle aura of the unique, bringing together a myriad of portrayals which explore the beginnings of self-awareness and of the ego.