shashasha

The second volume of Tokyo-based photography culture magazine “Sha Shin” opens with new series by the photographers Mari Katayama, Ayano Sudo, Sohei Nishino, Sakiko Nomura, Yang Seung-Woo, Leslie Kee, Miyako Ishiuchi and Seiichi Furuya.
The issue’s subtitle “Mosaic” serves as the overall editorial theme – to build a larger picture of contemporary (Japanese) society through the smaller visions and impressions of photographers and artists who confront society’s issues from a multitude of angles.
The English translations include all of the eight artists’ statements as well as long essays by Shun Kobayashi and Kotaro Iizawa. Please note that other texts included in the magazine are only available in Japanese.

“In this second issue of Sha Shin, we focus on works by a number of photographers who each examine reality and its problems from their own perspective.

In an age where the diversity of our lives is called into question in various regards, we felt that focusing on one issue under the narrow umbrella of a single specific word may run the risk of creating further division.

By bringing together fragments such as photographs and texts, each with their own background and meaning, we thought it should be possible to draw a bigger map of various issues faced by society, just like a colorful mosaic.

'Mosaic' describes a technique of arranging small colored stones, ceramic or glass fragments so that together they form an image. The name comes from the Greek “mousa,” as temples dedicated to the Muses were once decorated in this manner. In Japan, the term includes different connotations, since the mosaic (the Japanese word for pixelation) is used to blur and conceal images, either for privacy protection or in the world of adult video.

A photograph is composed of single pixels or particles. At the same time, the photograph itself only shows a fragment of the world.
Step too close to a piece and it disappears from view. Seen from a distance, the fragments join together, begin to resonate, and form a different way of regarding the world.

We hope that this mosaic created from individual moments of photographers taking a closer look at their surroundings may act as a chance, both for those who take photographs and those who look at them, to find new perspectives within a world in need of more diversity.”
― statement by Masakazu Murakami (Sha Shin's editor)