Message from the Artist

Without realizing it, could I have trespassed onto holy ground never meant to be trodden?
And yet, there “she” was, definitely.
The incontrovertible presence of my sister.

Kerberos (a.k.a. Cerberus) is the name of a dog who appears in Greek mythology. He guards the gates of the underworld to prevent its denizens from escaping.

Kazunori Okude

Message from One of the Judgesト

I think it’s interesting how Okude just photographs things as they are. He just shoots, seemingly without excessive striving or posturing. Without imposing his own thoughts or feelings, he concentrates on the subject before him, erasing traces of his own presence as much as possible. His photos aren’t composed in the first or third person, but in the second person. What’s needed in photos taken in the second person is only the subject before the camera; the eyes of the photographer are of no consequence. Photos are just taken without any visual manipulation. Photographing this way means eliminating the photographer and shooting wherever the subject’s movements lead to: voluntarily abandoning awareness of “seeing” and just looking through the viewfinder. What’s truly necessary isn’t a photographer who is “seeing,” but only Okude’s sister, his photographic target, an object without a subject. Nothing else is needed, nor is added value necessary either. Just his sister as she is, without any embellishments. A sister just there, the same way any ordinary old pebble is just there. Rather than a sister with some special value, Okude shoots his sister like some material, like a pebble.

Osamu Kanemura (photographer)

30th “Hitotsubo Photography Competition”
Dates: Mon, February 18 – Thu, March 6, 2008
Kazunori Okude was selected by the following panel of judges in the second round of judging, open to the public, on February 21, 2008:

Koichi Hara (art director)
Osamu Hiraki (photography critic)
Osamu Kanemura (photographer)
Nobumitsu Oseko (Creation Gallery G8)
Chie Yasuda (photographer)