The gallery’s “Hitotsubo” exhibitions drew to a close in spring 2008 after 30 events featuring a total of 688 finalists in the open competitions of the same name. The “Hitotsubo” exhibitions showcased numerous creative artists active in various fields. “The Second Stage at GG” series was launched to introduce how some finalists in the “Hitotsubo” competitions subsequently developed as artists in their chosen field.

For more than 10 years photographer Setsuko Hayashida has been taking photos of a temple located in a small coastal town in Nagasaki, where her mother was born and raised. For Hayashida, who frequently moved house from an early age, this place, which she visited every year during her school summer holiday, was the only place she thought of as “home.” Here, the scenery never changed, and the flow of time remained constant. And yet, something, certainly, was always changing: the workings of human life. For hundreds of years, the temple has silently borne witness to the ever-changing flow of life. Then one day Hayashida came to a realization: that she herself is part of that life-flow.

The photographs to be featured in this exhibition were initially shown in 2000 in Part 2 of Hayashida’s project titled “Human City.” In 2008 they were shown in China at that year’s Pingyao International Photography Festival. For this exhibition at Guardian Gallery, Hayashida has made some changes and added new works. Through her photos, visitors will garner a view of the “connections of life” that continue to captivate her soul.

Message from the Artist

Why didn’t I ask more about different things?
He was just sitting there, looking lonely: why didn’t I say something to him?
I just kept taking his photo.

What was I feeling when I took those photos?
There are many things I wanted to talk about, but I couldn’t even visit him.
All I have before me now are my grandfather’s photos.

Looking at a newborn child, I felt faint.
Is that what I looked like when I was born too?
Every time I see children, they have always clearly grown.

How was I born?
How should I relate to others?
How should I relate to myself?
How will I die?
When I’m here, I can imagine.

That because of connections from the distant past I’m here now.
That they will connect me to the future yet to come.

The most important things of all continue on, silently.

Setsuko Hayashida