Twenty three years ago the photographer Muga Miyahara began taking snapshots of people, places and friends. It was a side project, unrelated to the commercial photography he was doing for fashion magazines, CD jackets and advertisements. Miyahara’s series of snapshots present transient moments in time, seemingly unrelated, yet somehow consistent in capturing precious moments of life that otherwise would have gone undocumented.
Now, in an exhibition titled Shinkenshirahadori, Miyahara’s snapshots are on display at the at the Tokyo Institute of Photography (through June 1). The title of the show is quite a mouthful, but refers to a technique of defense, often glamourized in film and TV, in which the opponent’s sword blade is clasped with two bare hands (see image below).
There’s 1 image at the bottom, which I particularly love, but might be NSFW.
Here’s Miyahara, poetically describing his work:
From the first time I started taking pictures 23 years ago, and up until now,
I have encountered a variety of things.
From each and every encounter, I feel and pick up a sound,
which becomes a component of various scales on musical notes.
In the end it transforms into a single melody.
