Slash

Shoes of photography
For my photography book “Slash”

Around the year of 1991. The first World Wide Website was starting (I read this by Wikipedia) and nobody has had a personal computer. In those days I was a student and took photographs to “record” my own artworks for editing one photocopy book. The camera was SAMURAI by Kyosera. I was taught how to develop films by one of my friend. At a humid and hot dark room, I printed first photographs of mine. My friend said my technique was not good laughingly…I felt so, too. A few days later I made monochrome photocopies of these prints at a convenience store and was absorbed in editing one copy of the book. That was my first works of photography, consequently. We have not heard a word “ZINE”, around then. Also photography was in early period to be treated as fine art works, and various expressions were appeared. I started to walk with shoes of photography and said good-bye to old-fashioned methods of art seemed boring. Step, step, lang lang run.

And now, in this year of 2011. The environment surrounding photography has been totally changed. From analogue to digital. Even a child handles personal computer, we take and look photographs by mobile phone in a flash. There are Numerous photo image in internet sea. Twenty years has been passed since I put on the shoes of photography. In ups and downs of life, I have been walking. But recently I feel foot pain even on normal streets. My shoes of photography were worn down? No, they look newly and are not worn down. But, I feel something different…It feels weird. I looked my feet again in lineup and found some difference again. My shoes are on the wrong feet. They were like these from first? or on the way? Should I change them? I feel they are getting to fit my feet. I will look for new shoelace? Maybe I had better change a color of shoelace.
Then, I tie my shoelace tight.
My legs are achy a little bit still.

Hiroshi Nomura