Taking a portrait of a person is something unique. Suddenly the photographer has the power to define the person in front of him/her. But at the same time taking a picture can be something intimate, a memory of a moment cheered. As author Susan Sontag wrote back in 1973[1] taking pictures has become a social rite , to connect and cheer, and a tool of power , power in this would where most things only are define by their looks. Both things which I found combined in the act of taking these two exact pictures.
The first picture choose to take, is a picture of my former host mother, Taeko-san, to me only known as Okaasan (Okaasan is Japanese for mother).
[1] Sontag, Susan: On Photography, 1973, New York, Penguin Books
I wanted to take it as a sign of affection and in some kind a way of securing our social bounds – and to remember. Five years ago Okaasan (the mother of three grown children, a wife and co-runner of a dry cleaning shop with her husband) was mother for a year. I am amazed, how she helped me through everyday life of Japan, while she still managed to handle full time work and kept to be the center of a large family. As I thought of this I realized, that I could not simply just take a portrait.
In my perception of Teako-san, she is first of all Okaasan – and there is no Okaasan without a family, and there is no family without Okaasan. So I choose to take first a portrait and then a family portrait. It may seem strange, but to me there will always be something missing if not Okaasan is surrounded by family.
Post Scribtum: And so I cheered my little moment of Japanese family life, and yes after I took my picture, I myself had to get in front of the camera, to get my picture taken - the social circel is closed.
Picture taken by former host father Yoshiyuki Kamakura
I like the series of shots - fun and interesting. I also like how you explore the process through class materials (Sontag is valuable on so many levels). Thank you.
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