Kohei Kawatani

UHA Mikakuto is a long-established confectionery company based in Osaka, founded in 1949. Many people of my generation spent their youth enchanted by their candies, such as Shigekix and Puccho. They further developed unique candies such as Kororo, Ninja Meshi, and Mizu Gummy, enchanting young people today as well. Through these candies, I reflected on a time in the late 90s to early 2000s when Japan was more optimistic, while re-examining the youth culture I experienced and realizing how much the tastes of young people had changed. The name UHA stands for “Unique Human Adventure.”

I'm interested in a certain silk that once existed in Japan. It was produced in the Gunnai region of present-day Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Various designs of the silk fabric, called KAIKI, were developed during the Edo period (1603-1867) when the lining of the jacket was the only place to express individuality under the ban on extravagance, and even after the abolition of the order, they changed with the times. Sometimes, it took inspiration from Japan’s renowned stories; at other times, Japanese artists contributed by creating initial sketches, and on different occasions, it employed unique techniques to develop designs influenced by Art Nouveau. KAIKI, which appears in the novels of many novelists, including Soseki Natsume, was present at a critical point in Japan's transition from an isolationist regime to modernization. KAIKI, featured in novels by many authors, including Natsume Soseki, witnessed Japan’s transition from a closed country to modernization. Its name is said to originate from a tale where a Macau merchant who introduced silk claimed its roots were in the Qeshm Island in present-day Iran. The name Keshm transformed into KAIKI due to linguistic alterations. The people of the Gunnai region creatively adapted textile techniques transmitted from Iran through Macau, ultimately crafting items with such high technical difficulty that they are deemed nearly impossible to reproduce.

I found in KAIKI various characteristics of modern Japan and beyond, and to examine Japanese culture through KAIKI.

How to capture a photograph of something that no longer exists? The important thing is not to clearly capture the surface of the object, but how to capture in the circumstances that once existed around it and the stories that relate to it.

The created artwork utilizes motifs that focus on artificial objects and light, and transforms them into new, unnatural images using special digital techniques. The aim of this work is to provide a new interpretation of familiar objects and to explore the possibilities of contemporary photographic expression from a fresh perspective.

These new images are both something we have never seen before and at the same time, something that looks familiar. This artwork encourages us to change our perspective on the things we see in our daily lives and discover the beauty behind them.

This artwork also serves as a message towards the concept of "artificial," which has become increasingly important in our lives with the progress of technology. It is important for us to understand how artificial things are relevant to our lives and to consider the impact that things we create ourselves have on us.

I always carried a large strobe and used it to produce strong light even under the sun while taking pictures. When zooming the lens to the maximum, the background of the subject disappears and only its texture is vividly depicted.

I compiled these unrelated photos taken in various places using this technique under the title "Tofu-Knife" as one work. Even people, urban landscapes, and organic matter such as plants lose their realism due to the strong strobe.

Considering photography as a tool for visual communication, I am examining its possibilities through this work.