shashasha

Winner of the 33rd Hayashi Tadahiko Award

In "ALT", Japanese photographer Ikuko Tsurumaki collaborated with thirty-one blind and visually impaired people in a project that explores the meaning of photography, seeing and being seen. Divided into three chapters, Tsurumaki portrayed her models – some close friends, others new acquaintances – in places of their choice, attempted to capture what the world looks like to them through simple yet poetic descriptions, and invited participants to take a photo walk together. Throughout the book, Tsurumaki writes about the process, shares anecdotes and experiences, and reflects on changes in her own perspective.

“Although complex experiences such as vision are beyond the reach of language, they offered me brilliant descriptions full of poetry and metaphor. At some point in the project, however, I began to doubt whether my photographs were at all close to what they were seeing. Not only did they have to translate their experiences in a way that I could understand, but I also had no way of sharing and verifying my images with them. For a moment, I felt close to giving up.”
― from Ikuko Tsurumaki’s text “Photographing Images”