Chino Otsuka: Summer (1999)

maybe a web weaving on the beauty of the ordinary?

tara monjazeb drinking coffee in a church \\ jeremy miranda the deep end (2023) \\ tim wells out of the blue \\ chino otsuka summer \\ franz kafka the diaries of franz kafka, 1914-1923: "july 23, 1914" (via @shisasan) \\ van gogh landscape from saint-rémy (1889) \\ van gogh blumengarten [flowering garden] (1888)

kofi

all i can say is that the traumatized little girl version of me who moved strangely through the world and was emotionally neglected didn’t just disappear because she got older. she’s still there inside of me and she comes out more often than i realize. i was given so many names at birth that i can give her one and call my present self another. and i take care of her, nurture her, parent her, and calm her down. she didn’t deserve what she got and she is still inside of me and she always will be. i carry her with me and i protect and love her.

sometimes something will change and that change will change you

This is for me This is for the breaths I have yet to take, for the memories I have yet to unfold, for dreams I have yet to discover This for the struggles I faced in the past, to which I will part ways with comradeship for they gave bruises to my knees and made me realize that falling down does not mean it's the end This is for my passions and strength, seemingly lost beneath the shadows of myself This is for the sunshine in my laughter, the constellations in my eyes, the flowers beneath my skin, and the moon in my heart This is for me This is for who I was This is for who I can be

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard"

— Winnie the Pooh (A.A Milne)

just another birthday

1/2

67. @/ladylazarus33 (via @/likorys) 68. Imagine Finding Me by Chino Otsuka 69. (Were we always doomed to suck the sweetness out of nostalgia? Is there anything left to discover?) (@/asoftwrongness) 70. @/archbudzar 71. Judith Hanson Lasater 72. the fool tarot card (art by Lisa Sterl) 73. Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail (This butterfly symbolizes a positive change soon. It indicates that something important will change and you cannot prevent that change. A butterfly with black and yellow flaps also signifies death. It is a sign of the end of a life cycle.) 74. Beautiful Zero: Poems by Jennifer Willoughby 75. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Brown (art) and Class of 2013 by Mitski (text) via @/crushing-on-nico-di-angelo 76. All I Could Do by Kimya Dawson 77. earnestly screaming because of these youtube comments on the song ribs  (@/tylorswift) 78. When You Were Small. (@/hannahlockillustration) 79.  green grass, s.t. (@/ryebreadgf) 80. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Corpse by Heather O'Neill 81. from a book i made a couple semesters ago (@/julykings) 82. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird 83. photo series “Girl Pictures,” shot between 1997 and 2002 by Justine Kurland 84. Is it normal to feel your youth slipping away at 20? 85. I am feeling sad because I missed out on my teenage years. 86. a poem for myself (@/nostalgicjoy) 86. testing out some fun text + a handsome little man i met on a walk (@/demiiwhiffin) 87.  Winnie the Pooh by A.A Milne 88. The Sleep of Reason (2020) by Valeria Duca

Chino Otsuka: Woman photoshops present-day self into childhood photos

1980 and 2009, Nagayama, Japan

Chino Otsuka - Photography

Chino Otsuka's work "Imagine finding me" is a series of photographs where she digitally inserts her current self into old photos from her childhood. The juxtaposition of her adult self with her younger self. In these nostalgic moments make us think about time, memory, and identity and how we all change. Through this project, Otsuka explores the past and present, and the ways in which our memories and experiences shape who we are today. I enjoy the way she merges the past and present selves in these images and how it prompts viewers to think about their own personal stories and the ways in which they have evolved over time. In a brief poem that accompanies this series Otsuka says “If, again/I have a chance to meet/There is so much I want to ask/and so much I want to tell.” In this Chino Otsuka expresses the desire of going back to the past and having the opportunity to ask herself questions and her share thoughts and feelings. I resonate with this as I have so many moments and experiences where I would like to go back to, and people I would like to talk to especially with my grandma, there is so many things I would like to tell her and say to her. When working in the style of her, I found it to be a deeply fulfilling experience. The process of creating those pictures felt like a form of closure, as if I was putting certain memories and experiences to rest. It reminds you that the past is the past and cannot be changed. However, it also highlighted the fact that in the present, we are constantly changing and evolving. The pictures served as a beautiful reminder of the impermanence of life and the importance of cherishing each moment and not taking anything for granted. Otsuka creates a poetic dialogue with her poem and visual poetry and I hope to incorporate a similar feel into my work. I want to showcase how our memories and memorabilia are what we have to hold onto and cherish our loved ones who have left an impact on us and capturing it as an art form. Expressing the essence of my grandma someone through art is significant way to keep her memory alive and honour her legacy and these are the things we look back on and use to reminisce and remember what and who shaped us to be what we are today.

WEEK 2 BRAINSTORMING 3 IDEAS

To start generating ideas in class we quickly generated 3 possible ideas for themes / campaigns for our photography projects. I was inspired by Emil talking about his project ‘Reflections on Lily Pond’ and the use of old childhood photos to contextualise the other works taken. Taking this idea I thought about how interesting it’d be to find old photos of myself as a kid and recreate them / abstract them / use them in a series. Especially considering how I was raised as a girl and now I’m transitioning to a man and I think that change is really interesting because I think you can see elements of how I already felt uncomfortable within girlhood in some of the images. It’s also a nice change of pace to see how far I’ve gone. I could also explore the mixed media animation idea here.

(Image from Chino Otsuka — Inspiration of childhood meeting adulthood)

Then I realised my favourite images all have a very natural blue, green, summery theme quite unintentionally really so then I thought maybe I could look deeper into that and explore textures in nature maybe as a series or book and it could talk about preserving the beauty of nature and the land.

Then that evolved into what was my original idea exploring places being developed and construction and the melancholic and nostalgic feelings that evolves from seeing that. It happened when a new busway was made around my way and when construction started I thought a lot about how the blank patch of grass would never be the same again and It would never look that way again, and it was up to me to remember the way it was before. But even know when I think about that area now I find that I already cant remember how it looked without all the development. Ultimately of course, development is good, as long as its sustainable and conscious of where its being placed and why and the materials used, but it’s interesting to think about how these natural spaces will disappear as things develop. Or maybe they don’t have to just disappear? I’ve recently been weirdly interested in co-housing developments and sort of dreaming living in a designed community living site with a green space in the middle of houses which all share power and water. Anyways, I would love to take photos of these places or video them and add analogue elements of mixed media animation.

(Image from Anna Chichinadze — Mixed media example)

Two of these would use this mixed media animation idea which I will research and showcase here on the blog. It’s something I’m quite visually interested in exploring and I think its a good way to start working more analogue which personally I find really striking working analogue and making it digital and so its a good goal to work towards.

References

Carlos Jimenez (2021) Promise Me Memories and I Will Let You In [photograph] Copyright © Carlos Jimenez Photo: courtesy Yinka Ilori

Chino Otsuka (2005), Imagine Finding Me 1976 and 2005, Kamakura, Japan, Photograph, ©Chino Otsuka Photo: courtesy Chino Otsuka

Design Museum (2022) Yinka Ilori:Parables For Happiness Avaliable at: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/yinka-ilori-parables-for-happiness [Accessed 18th October 2023]

Johanna Hildebrandt Creekbed. [Painting] 122cm x 93cm Copyright ©Johanna Hildebrandt. Photo: courtesy Johanna Hildebrandt. 

Johanna Hildebrandt, Johanna Hildebrandt Home. Available at: 

http://www.jhildebrandt.com.au [Accessed 13th November 2023]

Karen Haller (2019), The Little Book of Colour London: Penguin Random House

Keith Haring (1981) Untitled [Drawing, Sumi Ink on paper] 71 1/2 x 74 1/2 inches Copyright © Keith Haring. Photo: courtesy The Keith Haring Foundation

Laura, Obsessed with Art, 21 Contemporary Landscape Artists. Avaliable at: 

https://obsessedwithart.com/contemporary-landscape-artists/ [Accessed 13th November 2023]

Natalia Baykalova, Art Majeur, Natalia Baykalova. Avaliable at: https://www.artmajeur.com/nataliabaykalova. [Accessed 13th November 2023]

Natalia Baykalova (2022) The Pink Dragon. [Painting, oil on linen canvas] 60 cm/60 cm. Copyright ©Natalia Baykalova Photo: courtesy Art Majeur

The Verse Staff, Meg Compton (2018) ART: The representation of memories within Photography and Art Available at: http://theverse.co.uk/arts/representation-memories-photography-art/ [Accessed 11th October 2023]

Yinka Ilori (2023), Yinka Ilori About. Available at: https://yinkailori.com/about [Accessed 18th October 2023]

REFERENCE LIST:

‘In my room: Teenagers in their bedrooms’ by Adrienne Salinger —- all the glory of the 90s (2017) Lola Who. Available at: https://lolawho.com/in-my-room-teenagers-in-their-bedrooms-by-adrienne-salinger-all-the-glory-of-the-90s/ (Accessed: 23 October 2023).

Dovas (2014) Photographer travels through time by inserting herself into her childhood photos, Bored Panda. Available at: https://www.boredpanda.com/imagine-finding-me-composite-childhood-photos-chino-otsuka/ (Accessed: 19 October 2023).

(No date) Google image result for http://austinkleon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/90a19e6b40a0947ed5859e74dd1a1c27.jpg. Available at: https://images.app.goo.gl/XgaCP3CW5a4Y3A16A (Accessed: 24 November 2023).

Unfiltered youth energy frames sentimental, the debut zine from 16-year-old photographer Jessica Madavo (no date a) Hero. Available at: https://hero-magazine.com/article/92586/unfiltered-youth-energy-frames-sentimental-the-debut-zine-from-16-year-old-photographer-jessica-madavo (Accessed: 31 October 2023).

Mrxstitch (2022) Holly Levell - nicely nostalgic soft sculpture, Mr X Stitch. Available at: https://www.mrxstitch.com/holly-levell/?utm_content=cmp-true (Accessed: 08 November 2023).

Dazed (2023) In pictures: The bedrooms of Britain’s subcultural youth, Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/60667/1/hysteric-rooms-daisy-davidson-photography-bedroom-teen-british-subcultures?amp=1 (Accessed: 02 November 2023).

Any other references can be found through Moodle or Pinterest.

Chino Otsuka: Summer (1997)

julia armfield our wives under the sea \\ hanya yanagihara a little life (via @moranjpg) \\ chino otsuka summer

kofi

Chino Otsuka

by chino otsuka

Chino Otsuka: Woman photoshops present-day self into childhood photos 1975 and 2005, Spain

Imagine Finding Me by Chino Otsuka, 1980 & 2009

WEEK 1 SELF DIRECTED PHOTO BRIEF THINKING TASK

The first step was to find some photographers who work in a similar context to me. I found some portrait / landscape photographers some who do a little bit of manipulation for the sake of storytelling and then those working more Lo-fi. Here are those 3 photographers and a series of their work.

SAGE SOHIER ‘AT HOME BY THEMSELVES’ http://sagesohier.com/americans-seen/n05g524rwiktwi4n01zyo7yppymzg6

RYAN MCGINLEY ‘FOLIAGE’ https://ryanmcginley.com

CHINO OTSUKA ‘IMAGINE FINDING ME’ https://chino.co.uk/gallery/IFM/ifm_5.html

I really enjoyed Chino Otsuka’s series ‘Imagine finding me’ the most and so that was the series of images I decided to look into further and analyse how a photo brief might have been set up for her photos.

Final Evaluation

In order to answer the brief, I aimed to utilise Lincoln, the people who live there, and the impact they have had on me in order to show the story of me. I aimed to evoke emotions in my samples by using colour psychology. 

For my primary research, I used photos taken at various locations throughout the years, including my friend’s café, the local lake, and the football ground. I also wanted to include the people who matter most to me, such as my friends and family, as they reflect who I am.  

For my secondary research, I focused on finding artists who reflected my intentions for this project. To do this, I mainly focused on Chino Otsuka’s collaging work, which represents childhood nostalgia and, Yinka Ilori’s use of bold and vibrant colours that link to emotions. Additionally, I used “The Little Book of Colour” by Karen Haller to assist me with my understanding of colour psychology. 

After selecting the primary research images, my focus was on taking  the colours and emotions from them to incorporate into my samples. I also used shapes and patterns within my work where necessary. This was especially relevant in my weaves where I used the block colours to create the samples. 

The skills that have been taught throughout this module were all extremely new to me. Weaving was the skill that I excelled at the most. 

This is because I found it easy to create samples quickly and effectively. The samples created in these sessions were the ones I was most proud of. They are also the ones which relate most closely to my intention for this project. However, in the weave sessions, I was often creating one big sample instead of several smaller ones which meant I had less work to put in my sketchbook. My creativity skills were put to the test in print, which was something I enjoyed. I was able to do well with all the different techniques, but I particularly loved digital print. My samples from print turned out successfully as they were all different, adding lots of variety to my sketchbook. Embroidery was the skill that I struggled with the most, because I was inexperienced with the sowing machine. I struggled a lot with the sowing machine, but the samples I created were innovative and visually pleasing due to the colours used and the neatness of the samples. Overall, I believe that I was able to significantly develop my skills throughout this topic and have pride in the work I created. 

During the project, I made effective plans which helped in making progress. Firstly, I selected the photos that I liked the most and picked the main colours from them. With these colours, I thought about the psychology behind them and how to convey emotions through the samples. I also ensured that the photos I selected had enough variety to make my samples diverse. I split the photos and colours into three different categories which were the three different workshops.

I knew that colour-based photos would be ideal for weave, pattern-based ones would be fitting for embroidery, and those with a combination of both would match print.

Most of my problem-solving occurred during the embroidery workshops. I had to not only solve problems I was having physically but also mentally. I was having a hard time working with the machine which affected my confidence with my work. To overcome this, I had to change my mind set to a more positive one, which took a lot of work, but I was able to achieve this. To physically get used to the machine, I fully utilised the support of technicians and course mates who taught me how to use the machine properly. As I got more familiar with the machine, my work became neater which clearly demonstrated my progress.

I would say that throughout this project, I was able to make a lot of progress. At the start of the project, I was completely inexperienced with all the different techniques. However, by the end of it, I was able to work confidently and independently with all the techniques. The most progress made was in the embroidery workshop. 

 I consider my final outcome to be highly successful. I was particularly satisfied with my final board as I believed it showed my narrative successfully due to the digital print of Lincoln buildings. The colours used also effectively showed the colour psychology I focused on. I also liked how all the samples looked unified, due to the recurring colours. To develop it, I would add a weave sample, as although I had a hand weave, I didn’t have anything on the board to show my progress in that workshop. My sketchbook was something I was very pleased with as it has variety in it, due to the inclusion of samples from each workshop, it also clearly conveyed my narrative the whole way through.