TAKENOUCHI / 竹之内祐幸, Hiroyuki - The Fourth Wall / 第四の壁

Personal statement by the Japanese photographer

"In the past, even when I was taking pictures I would think about what kind of individual I was going to become, but before I knew it one day I realized that when I was shooting I would stop thinking about myself." (Hiroyuki TAKENOUCHI)
Background information
"As a child with two working parents, Hiroyuki TAKENOUCHI spent a lot of time at home by himself, saying that in order to keep himself from coming to terms with the full extent of his own loneliness, alienation, and weakness, he would build up walls around himself. It was with this mentality that he took up the camera, and much like others who do the same, found it to be a tool that allowed him to connect with others while also allowing him a means to express his true nature. Free of obstructive thoughts, and by carefully fixing his gaze upon each object that surrounds him one-by-one, he sheds the person that tries to keep others from knowing his own weakness, who tries to act strong, who is frightened by the gaze of others, allowing for a plethora of soft gazes and sharp observations to pour out from within him, drawing out all the fascinating, attractive qualities of the subject, all things appearing equal in his eyes and thus revealing the beauty of existing in that particular time and place.

Content

For his photo volume 'The Fourth Wall' by Hiroyuki TAKENOUCHI has set his sights on presenting audiences with metropolitan landscapes; scenes of nature full of flowers and flora; nonchalant depictions of daily life around him; and his distinct clique of friends.
By directing one’s line of sight directly at the subject, he confronts the viewer with the loneliness and alienation of youth, a sense of unease and doubt towards the way he or she perceives normal objects, asks 'What is diversity?', 'What is the artificial?' and attempts to lay bare the true essence that lies dormant within all things." (© T&M, 2017)

About Japanese photographer, Hiroyuki TAKENOUCHI (b.1982)

Photo books by as well as with works by Hiroyuki TAKENOUCHI

Description in Japanese language

"第四の壁...現実世界とフィクションである演劇内の世界を隔てる、想像上の壁のこと。観客はその壁を通して舞台上での世界を観ている。
竹之内祐幸は、都市の風景、花や草木などの自然、身の回りの何気ない日常、様々な友人たちなどといった被写体を、真っ直ぐな視線で見つめることにより、幼少期に感じた孤独や疎外感、画一的なものの見方への違和感や疑問に対し、多様性とは何か、不自然さとは何かを問いかけ、物事の奥に潜む本質を露わにしようとしてきました。 幼少期、両親が共働きのため、家で一人過ごすことが多かった竹之内は、その孤独感や疎外感、また、そうした自分の弱さを悟られないよう振る舞い、他者との壁を作っていた、といいます。
そうした中で手にしたカメラは、多くの人がそうであるように、竹之内を他者と結びつける道具となり、自分本来の姿を表現する方法を見出していきます。
「写真を撮っているときでも、過去や今、これからの『自分』について考えていたけれど、いつのまにか写真を撮っているときだけ自分のことについて考えなくて済んでいることに気づいた」と語っているように、無心となって写真を撮り、身の回りのものを一つ一つ丁寧に見つめていくことにより、自分の弱さを他者に悟られないよう振る舞う、強がる自分、他者からの視線に怯える自分、から解放され、竹之内の内面から溢れた柔かな視線と鋭い観察眼により、被写体の魅力を十分に引き出し、全てのものが等価で、そこに存在することの美しさを炙り出しています"