Portland based photographer Akihiko Miyoshi's
recent series "Color Fields" is a
captivating series of self-portraits shot in front of a mirror,
altered by "colored tape adhered to the front of the
camera's lens." In each image the
camera acts as an anchor, blending with Miyoshi's
form to become one in the same. Vibrantly incongruent hues of yellow,
green, and blue opaquely cloud over each frame. Through this aesthetic
dichotomy, he raises questions about the malleable nature of
photography, as well as the medium's inherent
tendency to present reality while also distorting it. The context is
immediately shifted towards seeing the subject as the camera itself,
and a study of the way photography is able to have an understanding of
itself at a point of rapid technological change. A quick glance of
the work leaves a pleasant infusion of abstraction and figure that can
easily capture the imagination. However, Miyoshi's
strength lays in his ability to reveal layers gradually, one enhancing
the next, provoking as many questions as answers. Much of his work
utilises a similar brazen, tangible presentation of color, which
alludes to the essential presence of the full light spectrum for the
image to be created but also distorted. His choice to use a large
format camera, and create all these modes of manipulation by hand is a
subversive and eloquent commentary on the way all situations require
consideration and awareness.
"Color Fields" offers a refreshingly honest paradox within the current photographic conversation regarding image manipulation. It is figuratively and literally a bright glimmer at a point when photography is faced with confronting some rather intense moments of self-reflection. In this sense, Miyoshi's work is acutely self aware in its formation but also the way it fits into a much more profound dialogue. @losaunders
Laura Saunders