THEME #46Winners2023AUG
PLANT LIFE
SHORT LIST
Statement
On my way home
Walking home, it’s nice to have plants growing on both sides of the road.
At the end of summer, when I get off the bus and walk back to the apartment complex where I live, the weeds on both sides of the road are nearly as tall as I am.
Especially in the evening, home feels far away. I feel as if I’m returning from a trip.
Walkers and cyclists leave their tracks on the weed-bordered pavement.
Insects and frogs also add to the pattern.
The weeds gradually encroach on the pavement from both sides.
Soon, the city will trim the weeds in order to make the path more pedestrian-friendly.
I understand their reasoning, but every year I think, “Can’t they leave it like this a little longer?”
I wish it could be left as is.
Profile
Masaru Kusaki
After working at a commercial studio in Kyoto, became independent.
Worked as a commercial photographer for foreign brands of men's clothing and photo library.
Started photo exhibition activities in 2019.
“Shape of Water” in 2019
"Flowers" in 2022
"Unchanging city / Kyoto" in 2022
"About City, Time and Photography" in 2022
" Drowing in colors" in 2023
Jury selection
This piece of work is simple, well observed and I like this small observation that was enough of a catalyst for the work to be made.
Something I too have watched and enjoyed with Kusaki’s work. You can’t question a piece of work like this as for me it’s a true instinctual act to convert such a thought or observation into the act of making images without a need to explain or justify doing so.
The images were made as the result of noticing that a path on which this person travelled often would shrink in width and close in from both sides as the plant life encroached. The images are in a way not short of snap shots, but I like this, nothing grandeur or overstated, though contain almost shimmering and alive luscious green plants that you can feel are expanding in height and width as they set out to engulf an entire path. The rugged boundaries of this path also suggested movement and expansion.
I like this work very much, the low morning or afternoon light, the plants are clearly in the authors mind too, not just included in the images. It’s the plants that seem to look back at the apartment block in one image, not just the author. I would even go as far as saying you can almost smell and feel the air.
I can imagine walking or cycling around there and know it would bring me joy.
Congratulations on making this work, perhaps you are even unaware of the joy it can bring others and did to myself. Thank you for Kusaki for submitting these images. This work goes beyond what is considered good photography in my mind a moment of joy is activated in the work when viewing it.
