Meaningful Light, Cherry Blossoms Blooming as Always. But 'As Always' No Longer Suffices.

The photographs, shot on film, developed on photographic paper, and framed, depict landscapes in places like Fukushima and Tokyo, which Omori visited after the earthquake, drawn by the cherry blossoms. Omori has previously presented works featuring cherry blossoms in series such as "Cherryblossoms" and "encounter." What sets this series apart is the presence of a blurred, pale pink circular silhouette that abruptly appears within the serene, beautiful scenery illuminated by gentle sunlight. It is a peculiar light, as if it could transform the visible, the existing landscape, and scenery into something else entirely.

Fukushima, bearing the scars of the earthquake and the ongoing, unresolved nuclear accident it brought about. This series includes photographs taken in Fukushima after the earthquake. Did you have a particular sentiment towards Fukushima?

“Not particularly. To speak specifically about Fukushima might make it seem as though Fukushima is isolated from other places. While it's true that the earthquake and the nuclear accident were major triggers for my visits to Fukushima, Fukushima, Tokyo, and Urayasu, where I live, are all connected. It's not about expressing the earthquake or Fukushima through photography. What has changed is us, humans. The cherry blossoms, as always, bloom right beside our lives. For this project, I believe the most important thing is that 'everything happens for the first time.'”

What, then, was the sentiment behind creating these works? "I was thinking this throughout the shooting process: that 'as always' no longer suffices. I felt that we couldn't move forward without intervening in a deliberate way from outside the frame of photography," says Omori, who headed to the disaster-stricken areas with a pink American Cracker he had acquired at a Los Angeles market last year, which also became a motif for the works he shot at the time.

"Photography has its methods, so to move towards something new, mere intention isn't enough; the very way we see photography must change directly for it to have meaning. At that time, I needed something that existed before March 11, something commonplace sold at a 100-yen shop, and a motif I had used before."

We Live in a World Different Before and After March 11.

Photography, or rather the camera, is an act and a device that captures things that emit light or are illuminated in this world, giving them concrete form. However, these are things chosen by the photographer and rarely exist as literal 'images.' While the interpretation of what this ephemeral pink light and halation signify is left to each viewer, one thing can be said: regardless of whether we are aware of it or not, we are living in a world that is different before and after March 11, in relation to the reality before our eyes.

He explains the meaning embedded in the title itself: "I was thinking about the title for my solo exhibition in London this summer when I happened to pick up 'The Tao of Travel,' an essay on travel by the writer Paul Theroux. There, I encountered a line from a poem by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges that was quoted."
"Before even considering the title of my work, I felt that those who should be speaking publicly after March 11 were silent. On the other hand, social media like Twitter was overflowing with words that offered no guidance. In that context, Borges' words, though not spoken after the earthquake, 'Everything happens for the first time'—when I read that, it struck me as exactly right. 'Everything happens for the first time,' and everything is connected. I felt this keenly through this short phrase."

The pale pink images in the photographs, blurred and sometimes creating halation due to light reflection, are a link that connects the unseen to the visible in our consciousness, tying what we should not normally see to reality for us, the ambiguous viewers of photographs. In terms of photographic technique, it is reminiscent of collage or music sampling.

If we assume that a photographer is someone who poses questions about the future by capturing reality, how does the future appear to us, who have experienced March 11?

"No one knows if the future will truly be wonderful, or if a world of abundance or a desert-like expanse awaits us. Yet, one thing can be said: whatever the circumstances, humans will move forward from where they are now."

The World is an Accumulation of Events Happening for the First Time.

Coinciding with the exhibition, two venues deeply connected with Omori in Asakusa are also displaying works as part of "Everything Happens for the First Time." One is the Match and Company archive, open only for the duration of this exhibition, where "Language, Music, and Passion" is displayed—a collection of works that offer a glimpse into Omori's mind, including archives of his past works. The other is the exhibition "Los Angeles," a series of photographs taken on the West Coast that led to his encounter with pink halation, held at the newly opened space Gingrich.

No matter what happens in the world, cherry blossoms bud and bloom every spring, as if opening for the first time. For a photographer who captures moments in time within the flow of ceaseless time, the world must surely be an accumulation of events happening for the first time. The same is true for us. Here lie two contrasting worlds: that which changes and that which remains unchanged. And it is also a fact that all of it is connected.

Katsumi Omori Photography Exhibition "Everything Happens for the First Time"
Venue | POLA MUSEUM ANNEX
3F, POLA Ginza Building, 1-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-3563-5501
Dates | On display until Sunday, January 29, 2012
Hours | 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission Free

"Language, Music, and Passion"
Venue | Match and Company Archive
B1-1, Hanakawado Building, 1-3-6 Hanakawado, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Dates | Ongoing – Thursdays to Sundays until Sunday, January 29, 2012
Hours | 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
By appointment only, Admission Free
Tel. 080-3161-5211 (Contact: Muranaka)

"Los Angeles"
Venue | Gingrich
Kamata Building, 3-8-4 Kotobuki, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-6425-7973
Dates | Ongoing – Thursdays to Sundays until Sunday, January 29, 2012
Hours | 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Admission Free

Katsumi Omori | OMORI Katsumi
Born in Kobe in 1963. Received the Excellence Award at the 9th Canon New Cosmos of Photography in 1994. Major photobooks include "Very Special Love," "Salsa Gum Tape," "Cherryblossoms" (Little More), "Sanayora" (Aiku-sha), "encounter," "STARS AND STRIPES," "incarnation," and "Bonjour!" (Match and Company). To coincide with this exhibition, the photobook "Everything Happens for the First Time" has been published by Match and Company.
http://www.omorikatsumi.com/