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A series of photographs exploring the constructive qualities of bamboo — inspired by the book In Praise of Shadows from Junichiro Tanizaki.
The difference between Asian and Western thought on light and shadow is highlighted in Junichiro Tanizaki’s classic text In Praise of Shadows. Everything from the ambience of lacquerware under candle light to the aesthetic of a toilet is scrutinised against the authors criticism of modernity’s resistance to the subtle and subdued.
So much of Japanese Art is revered due to its impermanence, incompleteness and its contemplative qualities. This appreciation of empty space has roots in Shinto and Zen Buddhism, where space is a facilitator of the viewers imagination.
Bamboo is a venerated form of nature in East Asia. The functional potential of bamboo is seen in the formative groupings and the scaling of its joints. The strength and structural qualities of the material has been utilised in architecture, furniture and mused over as a subject of artists for hundreds of years.
The overriding ambition of this series is to inspire on a technical level, with its constructive patterns and compositions, while respecting the value of bamboo to Asian heritage and philosophy.
Associateship, Fine Art (2018) British Institute of Professional Photography.
Visual Arts portfolio, Gold award (2018) British Institute of Professional Photography.
The Art of the Print (2017) Dot-Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Landscape of Space (2018) Leica, Manchester.