Artist Statement
There are two different ways to approach the creation of art photographs. One approach begins with having some kind of image visualized in the mind. The artist then turns that visualized image into reality. When completing this process, I search for the object that will fit into my visualized image and consider the ways I can manipulate the lighting, so that the finished full frame will be precisely what I want. This is the process I work from when I know before shooting the pictures what and how I want to show.
The other approach is to shoot at random whatever catches my eye. I often have no preconceived idea of how I want to show these images. Occasionally, I am not even sure if I will print those images and am unsure of why I am actively photographing those images. This process is similar to picking up a book at random to begin to read. I haven’t been told about the book; I don’t know the storyline; I haven’t read the author. Maybe I start reading it just because the book cover was beautiful. If I come across a character in the story who intrigues me, I’ll think about that character. And perhaps, I’ll try to some of them. I may think like them, look at the world as the way they do. Over time, some will become my own, and others will simply be forgotten.
I began photographing animal corpses on the highway in the summer of 2000, while traveling through the western states with a friend. If I lived in the countryside, I could have shot all these images in one week–Highways are full of corpses. I still can’t recall what first compelled me to photograph them. At first, I naturally ignored them. I had no desire to look at them. But one day, as if they would no longer be ignored, these corpses caught my eyes with strong power. After this, I became unable to ignore their presence. I stopped my car and started photographing them. This morbid curiosity began to take its toll. I found that if I shot just three of these images in one day, I felt as though I was a terrible person. After this I had to stop shooting for few days. Even now, I still do not understand what I could possibly want with those pictures. Although I have created them, they yield no definitive answer.
-Seiji Nakane