成瀬 凜

Rin Naruse

In rethinking the act of photography itself, I focus on a structure inherent to the medium: the assumption that the photographer does not appear in the photograph. Having experienced the position of being photographed as an actor and model, I have felt discomfort toward the asymmetry in which the photographer—who should exist in the same place—retreats outside the frame. If photographer and subject could appear simultaneously, might their relationship become more open and free? Such a possibility also suggests a release from the power dynamics produced by fixed roles.

In this work, I use mirrors as a mediating device. Mirrors are closely connected to everyday life and function as tools through which we confirm how we are seen by others. By extending this function and placing mirrors within urban spaces, I overlay the self reflected in the mirror with the landscape that unfolds beyond it within a single frame.

The works are created using a smartphone, the most familiar and simplified medium of our time, reducing photographic practice to its smallest unit: the act of taking a selfie. The exhibition mirro(rin)g! is composed of these “Self-Mirror Portraits,” through which I reconsider the relationship between photographer and subject, and challenge the very notion of photography that assumes the photographer remains unseen.