Tamami Hitsuda

　 It looks like nature, but it's an unnatural landscape.
　 The light, colors, and forms are manipulated
　 to the very edge of the unnatural.

Which work took the most time to make?

I think it was "The Swan." Usually, I use two base images. Once I begin pondering over the composition and colors, I start looking around for all kinds of other photos.

When you first started creating this, you didn’t have the flowers on either side or the bird, right?

The bird came last. I simply wanted to have a swan. I took the first swan picture at the moat of Hirosaki Castle when I went to Aomori to see Yoshitomo Nara's show. It was a beautiful swan, but it didn't pose correctly (laughter). I put it in, but it wasn't good. But I still wanted to put in a swan. My husband told me that there were swans in front of the Museum of Modern Art in Takebashi. So I went there half-heartedly and found swans swimming there. They even approached me. Also, if you look closely, you can see people in this work. Who knows where they came from or where they’re headed?

The main landscape is Yumenoshima Park in Koto Ward (Tokyo), right?

Yes, that's right. The flowers on the sides were from a temple in Taiwan and the Flower Festival Commemorative Park in Gifu (which has the world's largest rose garden).

Are the flower offerings artificial?

I don't think they are artificial flowers. The red flower was in bloom at Yumenoshima.

When you create composited photographs, do you edit the image form as well? In other words, if the swan doesn't pose properly, do you correct it with your computer?

No, I don't really do such image editing. I don't create computer graphic-like characters.

So basically you combine or layer different images without editing them?

Yes.

The white flower on the left side of "The Swan" looks like light is shining on it.

Light is important, so I take it into consideration when selecting images.

There's also an element of oddness. At first glance, it looks like a landscape, but there's also a strangeness that makes it interesting.

I want to build an unnatural landscape out of a natural scene. I bring the lighting, colors, and shapes to the borderline of the unnatural.

It's time consuming work, isn’t it?

Yes, I give it a lot of thought. It does take time.

I’m intrigued by the point at which the final image crystallizes. For example, the decision whether or not to insert the blue, sequined flower in "The Fountain."

I also thought about just having pink. But I later added blue and yellow. I use patterns from embroidery, scarves, etc.

The sequined flower looks like a rose. Part of it looks like it was shot at night.

Oh really?

These embroidery motifs, do you find them later or at the beginning?

If I decide I want something specific, I sometimes use things I already have. I collect everyday things. Sometimes I go shopping for stuff, telling myself I will use it in my works, just as an excuse to buy it (laughter).

With a digital camera, do you tend to take a lot of photos?

Yes. There's so much information that I can't use all of it.

The title of this show is "The Garden." When you were studying in London, did you go and see many gardens?

Yes. I liked the highly manipulated gardens. There are gardens with labyrinths built by the nobility for their recreation. There’s one called the Maze that is beautiful and fun.

The Maze has hedges taller than you, right.

Yes, and there's also a giant bird cage with birds from all over the world. And a glass botanical garden. Beautiful!
And if you walk around London, you can see mini-gardens in front of and behind everyone's homes. The design of the homes is very similar, but the gardens are unique. I photographed them a lot.
It's like that here in Japan too. On the roadside, there are many potted plants. The way they are positioned and the variety of plants are deliberately planned.

So you like Japanese gardens too?

Japanese gardens are also interesting. The garden can be enjoyed in all seasons. You know, when I was in high school, I commuted to the art department near Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu (Kagawa Prefecture) every day for three years and painted. During that time, I painted the changing colors of Mt. Shiunzan, which was the garden's backdrop. That might have been my starting point (for the garden series).
After deciding to make "garden" the theme of this show, I went out and photographed gardens such as Ritsurin Garden, Rikugien Garden (Tokyo), and Koishikawa Botanical Gardens (Tokyo). I like gardens that are carefully and deliberately made. I am impressed by wild nature, but I prefer places that are made to look natural, those manipulated deliberately. Like miniature gardens. I also take a lot of pictures of the garden and flowers at my home.

Now that you mention it, the landscape scenes in your works do look a little like miniature gardens. What do you want to try next?

An installation and a book.

You mean an installation like the one you did at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography? For that one, you scattered flower petals and used fragrance. It felt like we were entering a real garden.

Although you couldn't tell from the outside, when you went inside, it was a deep garden. Along with the scent, there were also garden photos that you could perceive with your senses.