Photos Displayed in a Tokonoma Alcove

Photos Displayed in a Tokonoma Alcove — “Cherry Blossoms” (W280 × H900 mm).

This cyanotype (“blueprint” / “sun print”) was created on shoji paper — the translucent washi traditionally used in sliding paper doors — coated with light-sensitive solution, with actual blossoms placed directly onto the surface.

At a time when image manipulation has become the norm, I sought a more direct way of making photographs, which ultimately led me to cyanotype.

Many cyanotypes are produced by first taking a camera photograph, then creating a negative film, and finally printing. Yet for me, this “double photography” felt redundant, and the process left cyanotype confined within the category of photographic prints. By working directly with the subject itself — as some cyanotype artists have also pursued — I was able to step away from both the presupposition of manipulation and the frustration of that limitation.

The series title wavered for a time between “Japanese Photographs” and “Tokonoma Photographs,” but has gradually settled into “Photos Displayed in a Tokonoma Alcove.”

• Form: Cyanotype on shoji paper (traditional washi used in sliding paper doors)
• Sizes: Various
• Ongoing since: 2021