Photographer of the Week
From September 08, 2025, to September 14, 2025 – Week 37
Behind the Shot: Separating Gaze
The series originated as an exploration of absence—an effort to confront the fifteen years in which Takayuki Nakamura felt no desire to photograph. To address this void, he drew on the principles of early Surrealism, embracing chance and the unconscious as creative forces. The street became his chosen stage, naturally aligning with the traditions of street photography while also serving as a conduit for the spontaneous. For Nakamura, photographing in this way is less an act of intention than of response: allowing the body to react instinctively, before thought intervenes. This approach echoes insights from contemporary neuroscience, which reveal that the brain initiates actions more quickly than conscious awareness can register them. Like breathing or walking, his images emerge from that continuum of the unconscious, from fluctuations too fleeting to control. It is precisely in these fluctuations that the essence of his work resides.
Osaka and Kyoto, the two cities at the heart of Nakamura’s life in Japan, form the backdrop for this practice. His tools—compact or mirrorless cameras—are deliberately chosen for their simplicity and lightness. They demand no effort, no technical preoccupation, allowing him to remain fully immersed in the stream of experience. In this way, Nakamura’s photography becomes an act of surrender and attunement, a quiet dialogue between body, street, and the unconscious.
