Hamada, Ryo: Tobotoboto (signed)

Since the 1990s, continuing to the present day, Ryo Hamada has explored the ambiguity of memory and perception as his central theme. Through photographs that are intentionally and completely out of focus, he has consistently expressed his discomfort with the impulse to make things clear-cut or to arrive at definitive conclusions.

This volume comprises eight series—"Tobotobo to" (Trudging Along), "Furimuku" (Looking Back), "Kazoeru" (Counting), "Sukitooru" (Becoming Transparent), "Naka" (Inside), "Niwa" (Garden), "Sagashimono" (Something Lost), and "Atarashii Basho" (A New Place)—featuring approximately 109 color images. Every image was photographed with a camera; none relies on digital image processing. Instead, the "blurred photographs" were created solely through the inherent optical properties of the lens.

"At first, I used a camera simply to gather reference material for my paintings. Before I started using it that way, I would take ordinary snapshots with the focus carefully adjusted. But once I began collecting references, for some reason I felt it was enough if the colors and shapes were captured. Many years have passed since then, and now it's no longer merely that it's 'good enough'—I feel that if things become too clear, they lose their meaning."

When released from the fixed focal point of the self, we (= you and I), who are also just individuals within a crowd, inhabit a world where the edges of countless things intermingle, blur together, and remain ambiguous. Hamada's abstract, liminal visual language gives form to this everyday reality.

Faithful to the photographic rule he established for himself during the film era—using only lenses that produce soft focus—Hamada's photographs emerge with each release of the shutter. They quietly drift away from a society that demands everything be rendered sharp and unambiguous, inviting us instead into landscapes that are blurred, hushed, and still.

Included Essays:
"Blurred Photographs: On the Work of Ryo Hamada" by Tetsuro Ishida (Curator, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
"In Search of the Beauty of the Nearby" by Masanobu Ishii (Independent Curator)

Title: Tobotoboto 
Publisher, Year: Akaaka Art Publishing, 2023
Photographer: Ryo Hamada
Graphic Design: Kazuki Sakurai
Format: Hardcover
Size: 25.2 × 18.8 cm, 160 pages
ISBN: 978-4-86541-146-1