Keita Noguchi

FLOWER/Uncouscious beauty

-It was 2016 in Qingdao, China. I was sinking into a large cushion in the sunroom of a friend's store, watching the shadows of the leaves swaying as the sun's rays filtered through the acrylic ceiling. I was trying to turn away from the loneliness of living abroad and the impatience of not having a job. Until then, I had been taking pictures of flowers that bloomed modestly on the side of the road.It was as if they didn’t want to be found.

Suddenly, I thought of photographing them on the ceiling of the sunroom.

The photos that came out of the developing process showed transparent, straight flowers that I had never seen before. I honestly felt that they were unconscious and beautiful. The photos gave me back a little confidence and dramatically speaking even a ray of hope. I felt as if the flowers were telling me that life is not something to be dressed up.

A few years later, I started photographing flowers again in Japan. This time, while shooting, I felt something was missing. I felt an obsessive need to capture the same composition and the same size, and I also felt a sense of urgency to somehow create something from it. Looking back, there were more and more things I couldn't do or had to give up, and I unconsciously imposed a lot of restrictions on myself.

The camera I use blurs the image if I get closer than one metre to the object, so one metre is the limit distance at which I can take a clear and large image of the object. I was stuck there, unable to move. One day, I decided to take a picture at the size I wanted to see it. Forgetting the limitations of the equipment and the stereotypes I had, I decided to take a picture at the size I wanted to see it. The result was a large, blurry photo of a small flower about 5 cm in diameter. It was a picture of freedom and unchanging beauty. At that moment, I realised that I was actually creating my own limitations, not by society or circumstances, and was stuck in a state of inconvenience. Somewhere along the way, I forgot the excitement of first discovering the beauty of unconsciousness, and I was desperately trying to consciously cut out the flowers, but I think photography taught me that I was at the opposite end of the spectrum from the essential unconsciousness of flowers.

Even now, when I look at a flower that is clearly and dignifiedly photographed or one that stands in a blur, I feel that there is indeed an unconscious beauty there, and I am being asked if I can find it today.

FLOWER #307

FLOWER #301

FLOWER #307

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BLIND,is a new project that tries to capture the invisible.No matter how out of touch with society a place may seem our lives are always affected by the economy. New perspectives that you thought you were the only one to have found may be influenced by social media. Such influences affect the way we see things and make us BLIND, hiding the whole picture of the facts.We are now more than ever required to see with our eyes, hear with our ears and feel with our senses. BLIND's photographs are printed on transparent film. The underlying layers appear to overlap, when you turn the page, the image appears inverted. Such effects allow you to perceive the information you see and hear from multiple angles. Just as you can adjust the BLIND on your window to see what's outside, BLIND will give you a new perspective as you turn the pages.