Self portrait series
I was walked.
When I shoot video with my camera, nothing comes out of the camera. Light comes in. So why do I say I shoot video?
When I take video with my camera, I have forced the situation. I can’t make things send their light to me. So why do I say I take video?
When I make images with my camera I am receiving what is given to me.
On my birthday I went for a walk.
My camera received the first video at Sanno Bridge. [山王橋人道橋]
I posted it to Instagram and titled it Self Portrait With Waves.
I hadn’t consciously planned to use that title. It happened as I was typing.
My camera received the second video at Hirooka Bridge. [弘岡橋]
By now, I was beginning to understand the title of the first video. I understood that I was receiving images of the more-than-me-reality-that-is-also-me.
I titled this one Self Portrait With Leaves.
By the time I got to Gumyo-ji I knew I would be receiving video of the sky. I stood in the court yard in front of the main temple where my camera received the last video. I titled the video Self Portrait With Clouds.
I started to cry. I didn’t know why. I still don’t know why. I felt like I was home. But it was more than home as a place in here-and-now. I felt like I was in deep-time-home. It was a strange and beautiful experience. I can’t explain it with words, so I have offered these words as travelling companions to accompany the images. I hope the words and the images will travel side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, in conversation.
I don’t know where the words and images are going.
The only thing I can tell you is,
I went for a walk,
and I was walked.