ART | Photographer Nobuo Iida's Exhibition "Foton - (Photon)"
ART | Capturing Light with a Lens That Mimics Naked-Eye Vision
Nobuo Iida Photography Exhibition "Foton" Opens
"These are the forests near Tokyo, which I began photographing a few days after March 11th. On a cold, clear day, with a sense of unease, I went to a local park. The sunlight hitting and reflecting off the green leaves flooded my eyes as countless particles of light. Everything before me shone brilliantly, and I felt a warm heat deep within my eyes. I can never forget the exhilaration and sense of peace I felt then."—The photography exhibition "Foton" by Nobuo Iida will be held at Epson Imaging Gallery Epsite in Shinjuku, starting Friday, January 24th.
Text by KAJII Makoto (OPENERS)Photographs by IIDA Nobuo
Eleven Prints, Approximately 1m x 1.5m, on Display
Regarding the current exhibition "Foton," Iida states, "This is the Foton series, which I began shooting concurrently with my previous exhibition,Yumemigusa."
(*A photon is a concept that light possesses a unique duality. At times, light behaves as a wave, and at other times, as a particle. This contrasts with the concept of light as an "electromagnetic wave," which views it as a wave, and "photon," which views it as a particle.)
When I first started shooting, I was driven by the sense of happiness I felt when my body absorbed sunlight amidst my anxieties. Recently, however, my interest has expanded beyond that to encompass how landscapes and objects appear, the credibility of what we see, and whether seeing is solely a visual act. I've become curious about these questions."
Furthermore, Iida notes, "Humans perceive three primary colors, while butterflies see ultraviolet light, snakes see infrared, and mantis shrimp perceive up to seven colors, including polarized and circularly polarized light. Insects perceive the world through compound eyes. Recent experiments also show that 50% of humans can see the movement of a hand in complete darkness, and many women can perceive up to four primary colors. The synesthetic experience of seeing colors with sounds or letters is also fascinating and intriguing.
Lately, with the onset of both nearsightedness and presbyopia, I've noticed a change in how I perceive things. Yet, this is precisely how I see the world now. With these feelings in mind, I discovered a lens that closely mimics my naked-eye vision—it's generally soft, but the outlines are sharper than before—and I've been using it to photograph light itself."
Nobuo Iida Photography Exhibition "Foton"
Dates | January 24 (Fri) - February 6 (Thu), 2014
Hours | 10:30 - 18:00 (Until 15:00 on the final day)
Venue | Epson Imaging Gallery Epsite
(EPSON IMAGING GALLERY epSITE)
1F Shinjuku Mitsui Building, 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Closed | Sundays
Admission | Free
Inquiries | Tel. 03-3345-9881
http://www.epson.jp/epsite/
Nobuo IIDA
Born in Tokyo in 1961. Graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University, Department of Photography in 1983. After working at Eiwa Studio, he apprenticed under Hiroyuki Yakumaki.
1999: Solo exhibition "COSMOS" at Hokari Fine Art; 2001: Solo exhibition "COSMOS Evolution and Proliferation" at Hokari Fine Art; 2004: Solo exhibition "Fragment" at DAZZLE; 2005: Group exhibition "Miyake-neko" at DAZZLE; 2007: Group exhibition "Miyake-neko vol.2" at DAZZLE; 2008: Solo exhibition "COSMOS - Consciousness" at DAZZLE; 2010: Solo exhibition "Presence" at DAZZLE; 2011: Group exhibition "5th Showcase Show" at MEGUMI OGITA; 2012: Solo exhibition "Yumemigusa" at DAZZLE; 2012: Group exhibition "Photoration" at DAZZLE
http://www.nobuoiida.com