Mono no aware 物の哀れ - The pathos of things
Just as I can see myself in the eyes of any stranger, so I can see myself in everything, where places become as personal as objects one cannot bear to part with; objects that recall moments in life, evoking emotions that overflow. Thus, there are places that turn into rising, overwhelming tears. Moments in a place that becomes a longing for home, a yearning for a safe haven wherein to dwell and find solace. Times when photography is nothing more than a by-product of pausing in a place and simply being there. The press of the shutter is merely another by-product, dissipating the moment it is brought forth, leaving in its wake a vacuum and emptiness.
In this place, sadness transforms into a comfort that softly caresses the soul, leaving behind a memory preserved through the years. Like gazing inward, only to discover I am looking into a mirror reflecting the pains of my wounded body and worn soul. Contemplation and remaining in place awaken thoughts that drift like clouds across the sky, where I can witness the disintegration of things before my very eyes. Just as people age rapidly, so I can perceive how mountains erode and crumble, and trees grow as if in a time-lapse film, spanning years condensed into mere minutes. The time of things passes fleetingly, swiftly, and all I am required to do is observe, to be.
This is the first time I am not pursuing a photography project "as one ought to." It is a process that spans over thirty years of observation. I do not truly know when it began, nor when it shall end. I believe it commenced when I was seventeen and bought my first film camera. Beyond the thrill of taking photographs, I sought that single image—which in time evolved into a motif—that would convey this precise juncture where I am flooded with grief within a place, even without comprehending what it is I seek. And so, years and decades have elapsed in search of that very pathos of places, and of myself within them. These images were never captured merely with "a camera or lenses", nor with technical settings of one kind or another, for such matters are entirely devoid of importance. In these places, trees are no longer trees, and mountains are no longer mountains. They are simply what they are.