Traces: Rinko Kawauchi Research

Rinko Kawauchi (born 1972) is a Japanese photographer known for her serene, poetic style, depicting ordinary moments in everyday life. I admired her work as I felt a connection with her images of daily life. It felt as if I had shared the same mood and attachment to the subject within the image, mostly out of nostalgia. I feel that her photographs befits the theme of traces, mainly because she focuses on everyday moments involving subjects that people are intimate with.

An example I will talk about the images from her photo book, Cui Cui, published in 2005. According to the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art's website, Cui Cui is "an intimate exploration of the theme of the family through 232 color photographs. The title evokes the twitter of sparrows, a metaphor for the family ties and minute events that accompany each of our lives and mark the way time flies." Along with that, in Kawauchi's own website, she wrote that the photographs are memories of her family, which she has been shooting for 13 years. The description also mentioned of how the photographs evoke the scenery of hometown, of how it will keep alive the memories of the family from days gone by.

Source: Rinko Kawauchi

This photo shows a small watermelon with seeds removed on a small plate. It may suggest that the person eating this watermelon does not like watermelon seeds, giving them character and personality. The use of cold colors which contrast the red of the watermelon also gave the photo a calming feeling. Nonetheless, looking at this photo, I feel that Kawauchi wants to express how even tasting watermelon's flavor of sweetness is a small but beautiful moment in life.

Source: Rinko Kawauchi

This photo shows an elderly couple in an old photograph, hanged on the wall. From this photo, I feel a certain nostalgic feeling of the past from how the photograph looks to be an old photo. I think that Kawauchi wants to express how photographs can connect us to days of the past, and remind us or tell us about people who had passed on. I also feel that Kawauchi wanted to show that even the nostalgic act of looking at a photo is another small but emotional and beautiful moment.

From her work, I feel I've gained a better understanding of what photographs mean to me and how it may be meaningful to others. I learned that photos have stories, meanings, and emotions contained within them. I learned of how important photography is as an artform, as it allows us to relive and feel the precious memories that we can no longer repeat again. Especially through her style, I've gained an understanding that photographs stops time and allows us to appreciate the small humanistic moments in life.

Sources:

• Cui Cui (no date) Rinko Kawauchi. Available at: http://rinkokawauchi.com/en/publications/382/ (Accessed: January 26, 2023).
• Rinko Kawauchi, Cui Cui by Rinko Kawauchi (no date) Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. Available at: https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/editions/rinko-kawauchi (Accessed: January 26, 2023).