2008.11.17-11.23

　These are people from around my studio, I’d see them pass by every day, but I didn’t know any of them. I just thought it was time I got to meet my neighbours; that’s how the project came about.
　I set out with no expectations. But as I got into it, I came to see that these people actually have very remarkable faces. This surprised me, because I’d never really thought about these people before; they were average people I’d passed by on the streets and never considered. But once a face was locked inside a photograph, inside the frame time stood still and I got to really scrutinise each one, the features and structure of a face, the emotions of each picture.
　When the idea came to me, I immediately thought of a way to simplify the process. I didn’t want to use a complicated set up. I wanted to avoid a studio atmosphere with many lights and all that. Just one light for all. They would queue up and sit down one by one quite simply, no fussing over lights.
　Initially, some people were nervous; they thought there’d be a lot of fuss because they saw it was a studio. But with this simple set up they were not crowded; they could breathe and be themselves. I told each one to sit down and not to try to express any emotion; just to keep their mind still within them. Just look into the camera and concentrate your mind within yourself.
　I was quite surprised by their reactions afterwards. Some people sent their photos back to me because they were afraid of them, afraid of their own pictures.
　I was sorry that they didn’t like it. I’d photographed them as the people that they were. I had no preconception, no prior expectations. I was just interested to get to know them. I didn’t set out to exoticise. For me, the interesting point is showing the lives, the stories that they have lived through. The life story is manifest upon the face, in the very texture of the skin, in the eyes. This is the interesting thing.
　This experience has made me more aware of the people that I pass by on the streets. I try to look, to really look, at their expressions more; the look in their eyes. (原文まま)