成瀬 凜｜広瀬菜々&永谷一馬

Rin Naruse｜Nana Hirose & Kazuma Nagatani

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.

Hirose:
In Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (1871–1922, French novelist), memory, imagination, and the subtle intersections of everyday life take center stage. By tracing time backward, Proust rediscovers the past and delves deeply into how those memories shape our present emotions and thoughts. Even in contemporary society, this theme resonates strongly. Today, through smartphones, photographs, and social media, we encounter daily events and memories, consciously or unconsciously reconstructing them. In this way, technological advancements reshape our relationship with everyday life and the past—an example of imaginative reconstruction in itself. The reconstruction of memory and the discovery of beauty and meaning within daily life remain essential themes for us living in the present.

The exhibition “The Ordinary and the Imaginary” explores how ordinary moments intersect with fantastical worlds within the space of Zuiun-an, where the old and new blend together. Through works by four artists—Nana Hirose & Kazuma Nagatani, Yun Yongye, Yoshiyuki Ooe, and Kazumichi Komatsu—each active in different expressive fields, the exhibition examines the ways in which the everyday and the imaginary intertwine. By presenting a space where past and present, reality and imagination merge, the exhibition aims to evoke viewers’ own memories and imaginative experiences.