SOME/IMAGE : 'BLAST' BY NAOYA HATAKEYAMA
By placing ourselves at a remove from nature, whether it be living in our urban cityscapes or unaware of the daily objects we use and encounter that were once apart of the earth, it is not often that our coexistence and relationship with the environment is knowingly thrusted into our conscious perception. This is what Japanese photographer Naoya Hatakeyama photographic series “Blast” does.
The photographs represent and reflect a metaphysical passage of the relationship between nature and man, which transcends our own man made environment and places us in direct relation to the natural world. “Blast” is a sublime series that creates a psychological experience of almost pleasurable terror within the viewer, as Limestone quarries in Japan are exploded and debris is flung across the picture plane.
These photographs document a specific point in the long process of transforming the organic matter of Limestone into a utilizable human product, an otherwise typically unseen activity to most people. Hatakeyama captures these exact critical moments of the explosion as pieces of the earth chaotically and aggressively catapult into the air.
Instead the Limestone has been transformed into a fragile, soft and dusty material which echoes a power play within the images. This show of power comes from the apparent relation of Nature and Man, as the latter is shown
The debris leaves trails of unpredictable dust that creates rapid movement extending beyond the frame. The earthy and slightly saturated tones of reds, blues and browns reinforces the natural that contrasts with the industrial and aggressive explosions. The Limestone Quarries appear disassociated with their normal qualities of being solid and foundational within “Blast”.
to be more dominant within the photographs. As the rocks are eradicated and shifted from outside of the frame into soon to be a vacuum of consumption for man.
Text by Hannah Nesbitt | S/TUDIO