kayl parker

shizuka yokomizo is something of a legend. at least for those of us interested in contemporary photography. when it comes to portraiture, yokomizo follows no stereotype. first of all, the artist explains that she does not talk to the subjects of her portraits. instead, yokomizo communicates with them through a single letter sent to their place of residence, asking them to stand at their window at a specific time on a specific date. if they position themselves as she asks, she produces a photograph of them, standing in wait without instruction of pose and facial expressions. by doing so, yokomizo rejects the idea of controlling her models, and capturing them within their personal spaces and completely vulnerable.

the photographs are not only aesthetically beautiful, but also carry the inherent description of the process, the chance involved within the concept. the photographs produced exist as pictures, but never lose the awkwardness and solidarity of the moment they were captured.

for my lighting fundamentals final, i continued to photograph windows at night, still interested by the switch of perspective that happens with window structures after dark. to supplement the series of photos i hung on the wall, i created a catalogue to map the other three series to present the viewer with a look at the origins of my project.

artist’s statement (included in the beginning of the catalogue):

The beginning of this project began with a general interest in  houses as structural objects. We all build as a vehicle to dwelling, therefore we create houses that correlate to our understanding of what it means to dwell. The objective of a house is to create a home. How do we begin to create walls with this stated purpose? Taking that idea a step further involves looking at the structural aesthetics of houses and questioning whether or not these elements add to the value of the building as a home.

The most common structural aspects of houses, and possibly the most numerous as well, are windows. They are created as a portal to the outside world, but also offer a look inside the house from the street view. What purpose do we use windows for? Are they to look out of or into? Or do they serve their purpose in both viewings simultaneously?

This play on perspective manifests itself everyday. During daylight hours, one can see quite clearly from the inside looking out onto the street, yard, etc. But after dark, one finds it difficult to look outside onto dimly lit streets without loosing information in the visual perceptions. Therefore, the viewers of the windows from the street get to look in, the window hosting a beacon of light that illuminates the rooms like a television screen. Suddenly, the roles of the voyeur and subject are switched dramatically, disrupting the obvious purposes the window had proposed to us to begin with

book details: 40 pages, 8.5x11in, landscape orientation, printed on premium (28lb) white paper

here are my favorite photographs from the series i published in the book, but the photograph of the photographs don’t do it justice.

kp