Exhibited at the Mind’s Eye gallery in Paris, Masaki Yamamoto’s family photographs strike one by their candor. His family’s life is presented to us in all its spontaneity. No embarrassment, and at the same time not a trace of exhibitionism or indulgence. These shots have the force of veracity. Beautiful, bold, surprising images which remain engraved in the memory.
This is a series of photographs of my own family. Each family has its own story, mine has a past too. If I tell you about it, you might see this work in a different way. We have lived in this home for 18 years. Before this home, we used to live in a housing complex but was being forced out due to rent non-payment. So we had to live in a car for about a month. That was when I was in 3rd grade. Consequently my siblings and I were sent to children’s institutions. Two and a half years after my family broke up, we finally lived together again but I remember my family was still poor.
As we grew up, we had different experiences of being bullied, socially withdrawn, sick, badly behaved and so on. These experiences intertwined with the Yamamoto family’s history and are what makes up our lives as well as the family’s bonds today. The Yamamoto family is so human and so true-to-life that I couldn’t help but to strongly sympathize with the family’s mindset and sense of value, like what they feel attracted to and what is right and wrong to them. I have come to realize that this is my origin and where I will always return to. Seeing my photographs, some people may have feelings of sympathy or contempt. What do they sympathize with and how do they despise? I hope my work will make people think about their own family and happiness.
Masaki Yamamoto
Masaki Yamamoto was born in 1989 in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the Japan Institute of Photography and Film in 2012.
Masaki Yamamoto, At home
November 7 to December 2, 2017
Mind’s Eye
221 rue Saint-Jacques
75005 Paris
France
