A Thing (Part.1 and Part.2)

‘Why are we here? Where did we come from, and where will we go?’

The curiosity to glimpse the mysteries of life was my starting point. And ‘A Thing’ is an attempt at physically and intuitively gaining insights into the nature of things, through my own experiences and senses more than intellectual understandings. To open up a perception of the world and untangle the questions by using photography as a tool.

I have been working on this project since 2013. It has 2 parts. Part.1 was solely exhibited as a part of KG+ Kyotographie in 2016. Part.2 is the on-going part of the same series, which almost came to the end and will be a premiere if I get an opportunity to show.

< Project Statement >

Collective truth in silence — images/ memories/ words about ‘things’ just as they are, to acknowledge where we came from and where we shall go.

Part 1:

In my attempt to study the true nature of ‘things’ (the whole), I tried to observe it as objectively as I could. But then it circled back, and what emerged on the photographs was the essence of myself. This world is empty. Everything is an illusion – just a reflection of myself. I still see things as a human being.

Part 2:

I looked for the meaning of a thing that doesn’t have a meaning. Some say when the right things are assigned to the right places, it represents the universe in its right shape. But this was not so. They were just temporal shapes made by coincidence. What defines a shape is one’s will.

This world is empty, yet filled with infinite resonating sounds. And the whole thing is a song passing through like a flash of memories.

Continue to the next project ‘A Song’

< Note 1 >

The attached images of 'A Thing Part.2 'are pre-scanned for the preview. They will be properly scanned in high res and colour corrected for the final outcome.

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Water – where things are born / Land – where wild things are / Sky – where things go back
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<A Thing - Part.1> Water – where things are born / Land – where wild things are / Sky – where things go back

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Everything is on the same line than it ends then starts. There is no up or down, or left or right, but just blank space.
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<A Thing - Part.1> Everything is on the same line than it ends then starts. There is no up or down, or left or right, but just blank space.

© Miyuki Yamanaka - BLUE BLOOD – I was born from the earth. I will return to the earth. I am the earth itself.
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<A Thing - Part.1> BLUE BLOOD – I was born from the earth. I will return to the earth. I am the earth itself.

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Vision I – “Vision – I call it love. Vision – I call it god” Itsuro Shimoda
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<A Thing - Part.1> Vision I – “Vision – I call it love. Vision – I call it god” Itsuro Shimoda

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Vision II –“Vision – I call it life. Vision – I call it you.” Itsuro Shimoda
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<A Thing - Part.1> Vision II –“Vision – I call it life. Vision – I call it you.” Itsuro Shimoda

© Miyuki Yamanaka - The shape of love of a man who doesn’t know about love
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<A Thing - Part.1> The shape of love of a man who doesn’t know about love

© Miyuki Yamanaka - SOLITUDE as HOME
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<A Thing - Part.1> SOLITUDE as HOME

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Image from the A Thing (Part.1 and Part.2) photography project
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<A Thing - Part.1> SKIN – “More than meat we eat, which becomes part of our body; and more than a skull that contains a brain and eyes. I feel empathy with the skin the most, which is just a thin layer of a body. I treat this deer as if its individual lives within the skin.” Nayacafe Yuki

© Miyuki Yamanaka - EXPLOSION – She was like air. Then she really became air. What made them separate was only a thin skin.
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<A Thing - Part.1> EXPLOSION – She was like air. Then she really became air. What made them separate was only a thin skin.

© Miyuki Yamanaka - Exhibition at Kyotographie 2016, at Enri-An temple in Kyoto
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<A Thing - Part.1> Exhibition at Kyotographie 2016, at Enri-An temple in Kyoto

© Miyuki Yamanaka - 1 KHA
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<A Thing - Part.2> 1 KHA

© Miyuki Yamanaka - 2 HA
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<A Thing - Part.2> 2 HA

© Miyuki Yamanaka - 3 RA
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<A Thing - Part.2> 3 RA

© Miyuki Yamanaka - 4 VA
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<A Thing - Part.2> 4 VA

© Miyuki Yamanaka - 5 A
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<A Thing - Part.2> 5 A

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