Statement

moon echo

One day, it crossed my mind that there was a telescope lying dormant in a storage space at my parent’s house. It had been kept there untouched for more than 20 years before I took it out and started aiming it to the moon without particular intent. After a few days, the appearance of the moon seen through the ocular lens started to remind me of ultrasound pictures of an unborn baby. This is a series of photographs capturing those sights, printed on thermal printing paper, the same type of paper used to print sonograms.

Ancient stories passed down through generations have led the Japanese to associate the moon with a rabbit, the Chinese and Western cultures with a goddess. To me, the echoes of the faraway moon are an evocation of my child whom I am yet to meet.

Profile

Kohei Omachi

Born in 1990, based in Tokyo and Shiga.
Much of his work centers on the theme of life, drawing inspiration from historical, scientific, as well as personal topics.
He continues to explore photographic expression by employing preexisting media in the process.

Jury selection

"Kohei Omachi has described the moon seen through a telescope as resembling the fetus from a fetal ultrasound. The images are such moon printed onto thermal paper.

It has been long said that the wax and wane of the moon is deeply related to childbirth; so are the ebb and flow of the tides.
The amnion liquid in which floats the baby is also said to be made up of the same substance as the seawater.
Hence, the amnion liquid and seawater with both the same substances are affected by the moon.
I was impressed by the freshness of his idea, linking the secrets of human life from the distant past to today’s fetal ultrasound."

Links

• HP：www.koheiomachi.com