About Koji Sakai

Koji Sakai Koji Sakai

Koji Sakai is
Photographic
Sculptor.

Koji Sakai was born in Ehime, Japan in 1974.
He is also a professional still life photographer
based in Tokyo and the founder of a photo studio, Relight.

堺浩二。1974年日本、愛媛県生まれ。東京を拠点に活動。
フォトスタジオRelight代表。still life Photographerとしての顔も持つ。

“My heroes are Stephen Shore, Salvador Dali,

Julian Opie, Ralph Goings, Jonas Wood,

Enzo Mari and Hilary Pecis.”

sardine Oil Sardine,2006
cocacola Coca Cola, 2006

The theme of his artworks is “Ichigo Ichie” which is a Japanese cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. This theme became the centre of his works after spending 10 years as an artist since 2006.

By using Phase One’s full size CCD camera, IQ3, he captures a subject with an enormous number of photos by shifting the focal point forward from the forefront to the end. Then he ‘carves’ out a single gigantic image from the multiple layers of photos like sculpture.

Phase One社フルサイズCCD「IQ3」を使用して、
ピントを細かく刻み撮影した膨大な数の画像を繋ぎ合わせることで、
彫刻のようにイメージを構築する。
camera
photo board
shooting

Artist Statement

I’m searching
for a moment of
‘Ichigo Ichie’.

“Ichigo Ichie” is a Japanese cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment.

Every moment is a treasured projection of light and shadow, as they are ephemeral.

The act of photography enables those beautiful moments to be framed as forever-lasting events. When fate brings me these moments, I find the feeling of “Ichigo Ichie”.

I am drawn to the form of natural objects as well as the beauty of daily commodities that blends in with our everyday lives.

I get even more fascinated when I start to see their identities through lighting – they conceal unique qualities within themselves.

My practice is the act of capturing the beauty of “Ichigo Ichie” through a dialogue with the daily objects.

二度と出会うことの出来ない「今この瞬間」は、
光と影によって映し出されている。

”写真を撮る”という行為は、その美しい瞬間を
「永遠の現象」として切り取ることを可能にする。

そのとき心の中に湧き起こる運命的な感情を
私は“一期一会“と呼ぶ。

自然物の造形美に魅せられる一方、毎日の生活に
溶け込む日用品の美しさにも強く心を惹かれる。

ひとつひとつがこの世で唯一の造形物である彼らに
スポットライトを当て、個性がくっきりと
浮かびあがる時、私の想いはさらに強まってゆく。

彼らと向き合い続けることで、
“一期一会”の造形美をこの世に残していきたい。