The Japan We Will Never See
Art Direction, Printmaking, Design
2006

A project startedwhile studying at Rutgers University Camden, The Japan We Will Never See was an effort to surface the unseen and unheard. A series of negatives from pre, during, and post WWII Japan were stumbled upon at anestate sale, of which the only information to describe them were shorthand markings on envelopes. What became more interesting was the knowledge that short of their photographer, they had never been seen by anyone else.
The question was then raised that, if a photographer captures an image, but does not share it, does it truly exist? And with that, could another person reinterpret their originalintent?

Given the relative gravity surrounding this period of time in Japan, the answer is yes. What follows is a selection of the resulting prints. Individual names have been added with intent tohumanize the images, making those depicted more than a historical statistic.

10x10" Selenium toned prints on fiber paper
Compiled book of prints