Statement

The World As It Is

“Clouds are not shaped like that”, “The sun is not red”, my grandfather used to scold me when I drew pictures when playing as a kid. Fluffy clouds and a red sun. Instead of drawing such pictures, observe the shape and color and draw them correctly, he would say. I cried like a baby at that time. This is my first memory of my grandfather. My grandfather was a “scary and unreasonable person” for me. I always thought that he would never die. My parents often told me “he could be in danger” since I was in university, and yet he would just get right back up every time. My grandfather has 6 grandchildren. All of them attended his funeral except for me who was in Tokyo. My daughter will turn 1 year old soon. I finally understand what he was trying to tell me when I was a child.

Profile

Yu Yamaguchi

Born November 27, 1988 in Gyobashi City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Based in Tokyo.
March 2018, I left Shoto Studio and worked as a freelance photographer. Apart from photographing promotional content, professional portraits, and family photos, I lectured on still life photography.

Jury selection

For Yu YAMAGUCHI, the intergenerational family provides fertile ground. In this group of images, generated in the context of a family member’s death, Yamaguchi relies upon the complexity of interpersonal relationships within the family to convey how individual members act, live, reflect, and relate to each other.

Links

• HP：https://www.yuyamaguchi1127.com/

  Instagram：@guchiyama_photo