Wataru Yamamoto

"I document nature as a psychological image that is continuously transformed by relations between the self, objects, and time. I study the examination of nature in contemporary urban societies and the representation of nature through the photographic medium to decipher the diverse meanings of the concept of “nature.” In all of my works, I document the phenomena that are produced through the relation between humans and nature instead of positioning nature in opposition to modern artifice. In other words, I aim to document neither humans nor nature but what exists between them. It is the essential ambiguity of photography, as both an optical process of “writing with light” and psychological representational technique of “copying truth,” which I use to document such images. All of my works are an attempt to answer whether it is possible to document ambiguity."– Wataru Yamamoto

In a series titled “Leaf of Electric Light,” currently part of the Bio Art exhibition, Yamamoto uses a process known as Kirlian photography to create ghostly, ephemeral images of leaves. Originally thought to be able to capture some form of mystical energy field, or aura, of living organisms, Kirlian photography involves using high voltage to generate an electric discharge of an object, which is then captured on film. Although science has largely debunked the myth of the so-called energy fields portrayed, the process – as Yamamoto proves – is still useful in photographing objects in new light.