Seen: Observing Objects
Who: 宛超凡 / Wan Chaofan / artist website / instagram
Where: Totem Pole Photo Gallery, Shinjuku
When: Nov.13 - 25, 2018 (open 12-7, closed Mondays)
For the past year or so fellow Totem Pole Photo Gallery Member Wan Chaofan has steadily been iphone-flash-photographing details and objects in his daily life- it’s a hobby, a joke, a different take on, and a side project from his current masters program in photography at the Tokyo University of Art. I’ve seen him take quite a few of these and have enjoyed seeing what he posts on his instagram account. It was interesting then to see the work printed and nailed to the walls of the gallery this weekend- organized loosely by content, the pictures’ consistency makes the show more about the body of work as opposed to any particular single image. While categorization is at work, hierarchy is not.
Wan told me that he believes a photograph isn’t a photograph until it’s been printed- a sentiment that I firmly agree with. His statement for the show notes that this iPhone-Instagrammy game has been a way to further educate himself about photography- indeed, it’s quite different than his recent Fuji 6x17 medium format panorama work he’s been shooting 100 rolls of film a month for. Wan also said that Observing Objects is a product of the current time, noting that Instagram won’t be around forever- and that it might be at its peak anyway. He feels it’s inevitable that some app will eventually surpass it- and now was the time to exhibit the work.