shashasha

Beneath the serene photographs in Daisuke Morishita’s debut photobook “Asterisk” lies Morishita’s thoughtful approach to philosophical and metaphysical questions. Believing in the purity and certainty of light, Morishita treats the camera (as a simple reproduction apparatus of light) and photography as the most ideal and direct method to capture the wonders that unfold before our eyes. In order to keep the images as uncontaminated by Morishita’s own intentions, he “tried not to introduce any superfluous ideas. I believe this attitude was essential for giving originality to the pieces I created. At the same time, it gave me a feeling of deep pleasure which is indispensable for creating a work of art.”

The photographs themselves display Morishita’s mastery of the black-and-white medium, with scenes taken from everyday life transformed and distilled as the reproduction apparatus removed color.

“A single photograph contains various powers―the beauty of light, the presence of objects and people, and the expression of shadow. It never points in a single direction. It has distinctive and multiple vectors. We breathe in the places where these vectors come and go.

That is the free space where our mind can swim."

All text in the book in Japanese and English translation