Partners

About a year before the opening of the Saitama Triennale 2023, we were approached by the contemporary art team, 目[mé], who served as the festival’s directors, to discuss exhibiting portraits of residents in Saitama. As an editing and creative direction studio, we find the concept of ‘portraiture’ deeply familiar. It is a photographic technique used not only in documentary or fine art photography, but also in fashion and private family photographs, which are often classified as ‘portraits’. Unlike snapshots that capture fleeting, unposed moments (often with subjects unaware of the camera), portrait photography fundamentally relies on the subject’s awareness of the lens. It is a collaborative process in which the photographer works closely with the subject, directing their expressions, gaze, angles, the interplay of light, and even the background, carefully shaping every detail to capture the subject’s essence. Portraiture is a profoundly fundamental and simple method in photography. As 目[mé] observed, ‘While every face is something everyone possesses, each one is unique’, the paradox that faces are both universal and singular makes them a powerful symbol of individuality and humanity. Maybe this is why portraiture is an indispensable and universal technique in photography. Our world is filled with all kinds of people. There are also lots of different people in Japan. And of course, in Saitama, there are people like ‘me’ who commute to Tokyo every morning, people like ‘me’ with families of five, students like ‘me’ who go to university, and people like ‘me’ who work in agriculture. This city embraces all these different ‘me’s’ and thus becomes ‘our’ city.

It’s not just human beings either. The streets we walk on, the natural spaces like the sando (a path leading to a shrine) where people gather on weekends, and even the inorganic objects around us all interact with and support each other in our daily lives. This is the landscape of Saitama today. That is why this ‘Portrait Project’ wasn’t limited to closed spaces like studios or photo booths. We used locations ranging from in front of Omiya Station to paths along rice fields, and the kitchen of a traditional eel restaurant. We believe that these photos would become portraits of Saitama City itself. What defines a portrait? Unlike snapshots, portrait photography requires

the consent of the subject. Of course, the three groups photographers who participated in this project also gave us

their consent to hold the final exhibition. But what if the photographers had no previous connection to Saitama?

With that in mind, we invited Mark Peckmezian, a Canadian photographer based in Berlin, and Olya Oleinic, who is originally from Moldova and now working in Amsterdam and Paris. Their stay in Saitama, which lasted for approximately 10 days, was their first experience living in the city. In the end, they captured portraits of around 60 residents. These 60 individuals, who live their daily lives in Saitama, accepted these two strangers with different appearances, different eye and hair colours—an overwhelming sense of ‘otherness’.

In addition, we asked local elementary school students to photograph their family. Before the assignment, we had one-to-one talks with each of them to make sure they understood what portraiture is, and helped them decide what would make a good portrait in their close environment.

During the shoots, ‘otherness’ became a moment of interaction. The resulting portraits were only possible because both sides accepted one another. We felt the kindness of ‘me’ accepting ‘me’, and it was a remarkable experience to witness the moment when a photo of ‘me’ became a photo of ‘us’.