Kensuke Kazama
Encyclopedia
Yubari, Hokkaido
is a city in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 12,068. The total area is 763.20 km². Hemmed in by mountains Yūbari stretches for 25 kilometers along a mountain valley....
, Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
.
Born in Mie Prefecture
Mie Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan which is part of the Kansai regions on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Tsu.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, Mie prefecture was known as Ise Province and Iga Province....
, Kazama moved to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1978. He held exhibitions in Tokyo two years later. In 1987 he moved to Nanporo
Nanporo, Hokkaido
is a town located in Sorachi District, Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan.As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 9,113 and a density of 117.09 persons per km². The total area is 81.49 km².-External links:* in Japanese...
in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, and two years later to Yūbari
Yubari, Hokkaido
is a city in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 12,068. The total area is 763.20 km². Hemmed in by mountains Yūbari stretches for 25 kilometers along a mountain valley....
.
Kazama's photographs of the town of Yūbari and its abandoned mines and mining paraphernalia are in black and white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, and employ a medium-format camera for detail and small aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
for great depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
, often allied with a formal composition. Mitsugu Ōnishi
Mitsugu Onishi
Mitsugu Ōnishi is a Japanese photographer.Born in Tokyo, Ōnishi graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1974, rejoining a year later as a teacher, and staying there in that capacity until 1994....
points out that the results "run counter to the ruins photography trend". From 1994 his photographs of Yūbari appeared in the magazines Nippon Camera
Nippon Camera
is a Japanese photography magazine, published since 1950.It started in March 1950 as a bimonthly magazine, published by Kōgeisha as the successor to the book series Amachua Shashin Sōsho . It became a monthly magazine from July 1951...
and Asahi Camera
Asahi Camera
is a Japanese monthly photographic magazine.The first issue was that for April 1926. It has from the outset been published by Asahi Shinbun-sha, publisher of the newspaper Asahi Shinbun....
; he also participated regularly in Higashikawa Photofesta.
Kazama won the 18th Higashikawa Special Prize
Higashikawa Prize
The has been awarded to photographers by the "Phototown" of Higashikawa, Hokkaidō since 1985. The Overseas and Domestic Photographer prizesare of 500,000 yen and the New Photographer and Special prizes are of 300,000 yen....
in 2002 and (for his book Yūbari) the PSJ newcomer's award and the 18th Society of Photography Award
Society of Photography Award
The Society of Photography Award is an award presented annually since 1989 by the Society of Photography for outstanding work in photography....
in 2006.
In March 2006, Kazama moved to Mitaka
Mitaka, Tokyo
is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 November 2010, the city has an estimated population of 176,737. The total area is 16.50 km² and is about 50 – 55 meters above sea level...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. His subsequent photographs of nearby Inokashira Park
Inokashira Park
straddles Musashino and Mitaka in western Tokyo, Japan.Inokashira Pond and the , established during the Edo period, are the primary sources of the Kanda River....
, which employ the same techniques as his photographs of Yūbari, have been published.
Kazama later moved to Sayama
Sayama, Saitama
, formerly known as Irumagawa, is a city located in Saitama, Japan. Sayama translates as "sitting on a mountain”. The city was founded on July 1, 1954....
(Saitama
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
), where in 2010 he was working more with photogram
Photogram
A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used...
s, mounting both food specimens and potato crisps
Potato chip
Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
lightly edited to resemble faces in a specially constructed negative carrier and enlarging from this.
Books by Kazama
- Live. Self-published, 1980.
- Sorachi tankō isan sanpo . Sapporo: Kyōdō Bunkasha, 2003. ISBN 4-87739-088-X. Kazama contributes the photographs.
- Kazama Kensuke shashinshū: Yūbari / Kensuke Kazama Photographic Collection: Yubari. Sapporo: Jyuryousya, 2005. ISBN 4-902269-14-7. All text and captions in both Japanese and English.
Sources and external links
a site about Kazama Kazama's site- "Minna shashin yaranaika," a fan's page about Kazama Ichii Yasunobu . "Monokuro o yaru ningen niwa anshitsu ga hitsuyō" . Shashin Kōgyō , May 2007, pp. 102–103. An article about Kazama's Mitaka home/darkroom.