About my photo project, Faces of Cities, particularly Asian Today, which I held two exhibitions at NikonSalon, I had a chance to describe.
I write down below;
Today I will talk about a part of situations of Asian countries. I think 2 other girls will tell you something more specific because they worked as internships there. They should have lived more closely to the people, lives and anything. I walked around those countries, though, I didn’t work there. Just lived. There’s a quite difference. So I have some knowledge different from theirs; I mean I could grasp the surfaces of the situation.
Most of Asian countries are developing now, very quickly and very strongly. They would earn much more, and they’ll get bigger than ever. I took pictures of surfaces of them and tried seeing what is happening ,thinking what I’d understand ,telling what like those situation is now and making you, audiences to think over what is that.
Please enjoy this slides.
In this sideshow, I ordered pictures of different countries discretely, such as I put one in Kazakhstan next to one in Thailand. But there’s a arbitrary ordering; I put them in order from ones more primitive or traditional to ones more developed and citied. I think you could not tell each country from all other countries. They seemed as if in one country, though, we know here were several countries’ pictures.
In this way, we can see the history in the geography.
For example, if Cambodian people want their country to develop more and become like Thailand or Japan, the scene of Thailand or Japan should be the one of the future. We can move on the vertical lines by moving on the horizon lines.
If one country get developed, people there would lose something; tradition, primitive lives, but of course they get more things; convenience and money. Their lives would be improved. They can live longer. It’s very nice. Though in only some part of whole things.
I’ve heard some said that eyes of children in Cambodia were so clear and pure that it was very wonderful. Is that true? If they would get to know how our lives are, they must envy us. They’d never show us their pure eyes. Just only they don’t know. S they are happy now.
But is it really “happy”?
Those kinds of people, I mean, who would say such those things above, might think it’s wrong poor people in developing countries to lose tradition and their own style of lives.
But WE all Japanese lost a lot of things instead of this convenience today, didn’t we? For example, we don’t wear Kimono nowadays,we don’t have swords which people in Edo period had, we never see Edo hair style called Chonmage. They are only few examples. Many things we lost. But… Are we unhappy? No. We’re happy.
I can’t say which is more egoistic. Both might be.
But if we don’t feel we’re not happy, I want them to have a chance. I hope this, and made this work.