Special Exhibitions
Masumi Hayashi: Photographs
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Special Exhibitions |
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Masumi Hayashi: Photographs |
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Hayashi's Process Hayashi’s complex procedure begins by determining the amount of space to cover—left to right and top to bottom—and then focusing the camera on the horizon line, which establishes the mid-section of the collage. It is this band of prints that contains the least distortion, providing a touchstone for the rest of the composition. She angles her camera up and down to each new horizontal position until she has taken the number of shots necessary to complete her panoramic view. In the exhibited works, the horizontal span can range from roughly 240 degrees to 180 degrees beyond a full circle, while the vertical coverage is usually less than 180 degrees, from immediately in front of the tripod to directly above the artist’s head. She has described her method as “a way of remapping space in a way ordinary vision doesn’t allow us to see.”A slight, intentional overlapping becomes pronounced as the camera angle moves away from the horizon line. The farther away from the center, the more abstract the image becomes, and as Hayashi moves from the midline each shot repeats more of the one before. This distortion is reminiscent of a cubist rendering of space, enhanced by the variance in tonal quality from print to print caused by changing atmospheric conditions during her lengthy shoots. Her sequential process results in the photograph’s unusually rich surface pattern, which can cause a feeling of disorientation or vertigo. Page 1 of 2 | On the next page: About Masumi Hayashi |
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