The Ordinary Unseen

I left my small hometown of Kochi in Japan and moved to bigger and bigger cities in an attempt to find that something. I eventually ended up in New York City, struggling with stress and isolation. I decided to make a single photograph whenever I felt sad, lonely or frustrated. As I repeated this, I gradually started to see beautiful things that had escaped my notice during my hectic daily life. In The Lotus Sutra, the teaching of Buddha, there is a parable called “The Gem in the Robe”. It is a story of a poor man who journeyed here and there to other countries, seeking food and clothing to keep himself alive without knowing that he had a priceless jewel sewed in the lining of his robe. Later the close friend who had given him the jewel let him know about it. When the poor man saw the jewel, his heart was filled with great joy, for he possessed of wealth sufficient to satisfy the five desires. Through this project, my feelings run parallel to those of the poor man and I realize how happy and fortunate I already have been. This series, The Ordinary Unseen is a recording of “hidden treasures” that I discover in my ordinary every-days.