004-033 TOSHIO SHIBATA / DAMS [WITH INTERVIEW BY MARC FEUSTEL]

NIKKO CITY, TOCHIGI PREFECTURE / 2006




GRAND COULEE DAM, DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON / 1996




NIIHAMA CITY, EHIME PREFECTURE / 2007




SHIMOGO TOWN, FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE / 1990


MARC FEUSTEL / YOU HAVE SAID THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ‘SUPPRESS YOURSELF AS JAPANESE’ WHEN YOU PHOTOGRAPH. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THIS ‘JAPANESENESS’ MEANS TO YOUR WORK? HOW DID YOUR EXPOSURE TO WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHY & ART INFLUENCE YOUR APPROACH?

TOSHIO SHIBATA / AS A STUDENT IN MY 20’S IN EUROPE I WAS ABLE TO SEE JAPAN FROM THE OUTSIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME— SOMETHING THAT I HAD BEEN INTERESTED IN FOR A LONG TIME. BUT WHEN I WAS IN EUROPE I FOUND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS DIFFICULT. EVERYTHING WAS SO DIFFERENT & TOO PHOTOGENIC. NOTHING CONNECTED DEEPLY WITH ME. WITH PAINTING YOU CAN BREAK AWAY FROM THIS, BECAUSE YOU CAN USE YOUR IMAGINATION. I WASN’T MATURE ENOUGH AS AN ARTIST THEN, SO I DECIDED TO COME BACK TO JAPAN TO MAKE A LIVING & I THOUGHT THAT THERE I MIGHT BE BETTER ABLE TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS. BUT WHEN I CAME BACK TO TOKYO I FELT THAT THERE WAS TOO MUCH CHAOS. I WAS TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING COMMON, LIKE A HIGHWAY, SOMETHING THAT IS THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANY TIMES I FOUND THAT WHILE DRIVING IN BELGIUM I COULD HAVE BEEN IN JAPAN. I WANTED TO USE THIS SENSATION IN MY WORK, SO I STARTED TAKING NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS ON HIGHWAYS. BIT BY BIT, I STARTED WORKING & TRAVELLING AROUND JAPAN.
BEFORE I WENT TO BELGIUM I HAD TRAVELLED VERY LITTLE IN JAPAN & KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT MY COUNTRY. IT WAS TRAVELLING AROUND JAPAN THAT I FINALLY FOUND MY SUBJECT— INFRASTRUCTURE. I TRIED TO FIND SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBJECT; THE KIND OF THING THAT PHOTOGRAPHERS TRY TO ELIMINATE FROM THEIR IMAGES. WITH PAINTING YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE IN A SCENE, BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY; EVERYTHING GETS INCLUDED. THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN PAINTING & PHOTOGRAPHY WAS IMPORTANT TO ME IN DEVELOPING MY PHOTOGRAPHIC APPROACH. I FELT THAT TECHNIQUE WAS NOT WHAT DEFINED A PHOTOGRAPHER, BUT THE ABILITY TO FIND A NEW SUBJECT.

MF / ALTHOUGH THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU PHOTOGRAPH IS UNIVERSAL, THE LANDSCAPES IN YOUR IMAGES SEEM VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT CAN BE SEEN IN EUROPE. IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP TO MAN-MADE INFRASTRUCTURE IN JAPAN.

TS / WITH INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS HIGHWAYS & DAMS, THEY ARE THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD. BUT PERHAPS OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, INFRASTRUCTURE TENDS TO BE DESIGNED TO BE HIDDEN. IN JAPAN TO BUILD A ROAD, WE HAVE TO DESTROY A MOUNTAIN IN THE PROCESS; THE COUNTRY IS 80 PERCENT MOUNTAINS. PARTLY FOR THIS REASON, IN JAPAN WE DON’T HIDE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. INSTEAD THERE IS A DESIRE TO SHOW PEOPLE HOW IMPRESSIVE JAPANESE ENGINEERING IS. THERE IS A SENSE OF PRIDE FOR PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT THEIR SMALL VILLAGE HAS A LARGE DAM OR AN IMPRESSIVE ROAD.
FOR THE JAPANESE, THE NATURAL & THE MAN-MADE ARE NOT CONTRADICTORY. WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR US IS WHAT IS NECESSARY. IN JAPAN, WE LIVE WITH CONSTANT THREAT OF NATURAL DISASTERS— LANDSLIDES, EARTHQUAKES, TYPHOONS. FOR US, TECHNOLOGY IS ESSENTIAL TO OUR SURVIVAL SO MAYBE THAT CHANGES OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION IN NATURE. COHABITATION BETWEEN MAN & NATURE IS A CONSTANT FACT OF LIFE. SO WHEN WE BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE, IT IS NOT HIDDEN. MAYBE BECAUSE WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL IDEAS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING IN JAPAN, THINGS ARE CHANGING, BUT THIS IDEA OF NECESSITY REMAINS.

[..]

MONIKA BIELSKYTE / NOSTALGIA & LONGING... ARE THESE IMPORTANT IN YOUR WORK?

TS / I TRY NOT TO INCORPORATE EMOTIONS IN MY ARTISTIC EXPRESSION OR MY WORK. I FEEL THAT PHOTOGRAPHY, AS A DIRECT MEDIUM, IS ENOUGH IN ITSELF. I AM AN EMOTIONAL PERSON WHO CREATES ARTWORK, BUT I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF INCLUDING MYSELF, OR MY EMOTIONS, IN MY WORK. ON THE CONTRARY, I TRY TO REMOVE MYSELF, EVEN TO REMOVE MY SHADOW FROM MY WORK. I BELIEVE THAT THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE THE WORK STAND ON ITS OWN IS TO REMOVE ANY STORY OR PERSONAL ELEMENTS FROM THE WORK. I’M AIMING TO ACHIEVE A CERTAIN UNIVERSAL FEELING, WHICH DOESN’T HAVE TO RELY ON ANY SPECIFIC PLACE, CULTURE, OR SITUATION.


EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH TOSHIO SHIBATA BY MARC FEUSTEL & MONIKA BIELSKYTE. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER004 / THE WINGS OF A LOCUST