The blossoming flowers

Kiiro’s cherry blossom photography

Kiiro拍攝的櫻花,既真實又虛幻,那些山櫻,是初春時走在山頭上偶然會遇到的,同時也是在吹彈可破的夢境裡看到的。

原本只拍攝地上的秋櫻,近年來開始仰頭拍攝起櫻花來。就像大部分日本人一樣,Kiiro對櫻花也有著特別的情感。在它們短暫而燦爛的生命裡,他看到生命如何燃燒,熣燦過後凋零,凋零過後卻重生。生命的循環,在短時間之內彰顯在櫻花之上,生與死,混沌在花開花落間,教Kiiro感到莫名的平靜。

在數碼科技發達的年代裡,有人欣賞其方便,也有人對菲林攝影情有獨鐘。Kiiro感到數碼攝影的色影太過銳利,卻也有其便利之處。他愛以針孔攝影方式拍攝照片,喜歡光線緩緩滲入照片裡的感覺。在製作每幀作品時,他都會選來一張以針孔攝影的照片,然後拼上百多張數碼照片。他不會預先想像好畫面,再以電腦實踐,而是隨心地拼貼,如同雕塑家般,雕啄著數碼影象。數碼照片重疊又重疊,影像變得模糊粗糙,與針孔攝影,一同建構出瞹眛不明,卻柔和且與人親近的風景來。

Cherry blossoms appear to be so vivid yet surreal under Kiiro’s lens. Those Japanese Cherry could be seen on the hilly path during early spring, it could also be an image from a hazy dream.

Kiiro’s subject of photography has shifted from the cherry blossoms laying on the ground to include the cherry blossoms hanging on the trees. Like most of the Japanese, Kiiro has a strong sentiment for the Japanese Cherry. He found the essence of life in their short but vibrant life cycle — a life that is fully lived, which wither after the brightest moment before its rebirth. Observing life and death, as well as disarray within a condensed life of the blooming flower has brought to Kiiro an unexplainable tranquility.

Some may appreciate the convenience brought by digital technology, while others remain attached to film cameras. Although Kiiro finds the color of digital photography overly sharp, he would not deny how convenient it is. Pinhole camera is one of the apparatus he enjoys using; he likes how light slowly flows onto the photographic paper. It is his usual practice to choose one photo made with pinhole camera and match it with hundreds of digital images. In the making he would not have an end picture in mind nor try to complete it with the help of computer, rather he would just follow his heart and collage these digital images like a sculptor. The digital photos overlap and the image gets blurry, but the photo montage with pinhole photography somehow capture the poetic nature of these trees.

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