Japan born Yamamoto began photographing in 1975. Strong themes in his work are nature, the passing of time and memory. The work also bears relation to the idea of Haikus, short poems that present a single experience, a single moment. Like Haikus, Yamamoto's images present a single subject that appear to leave something unsaid or undefined, the viewer is given the chance to complete the idea and thus become part of the work, reaffirming their relationship with themselves. For example a cobbled street, a bird, a window, a naked woman. In his exhibition "Nakazora" (meaning "the space between the sky and earth") Yamamoto insists the empty space between the photos is as important as the photos themselves. This idea is seen in Buddhism, all things being of equal value, here the viewer should experience themselves in the spaces as well as viewing the images. "When looking at my installation, I would like the viewer not only to try to understand. Rather, as with a landscape, for example, please just view or take a look." In other exhibitions Yamamoto has not only hung work on the walls but also provided for some to be contained in old wooden boxes that the viewer can rummage through. Like rummaging through beautiful moments we may have thought forgotten, here are captured and presented for us to experience again.
"I try not to think when I take photographs, I let myself be drawn to a subject; the photograph is a record of my feelings in the moment."
All photos copyright Masao Yamamoto
