Torikumo by Haruka Fujita

Haruka Fujita's "Torikumo" emerges as a profound exploration of the ethereal beauty captured within the natural landscapes of Japan's Tohoku region—her native home. The title, borrowed from the venerable haiku tradition, evokes the enchanting vision of migratory birds vanishing into the mists, heralding the onset of spring.

In her work, Fujita weaves a tapestry of traditional Japanese motifs and aesthetics, bringing to life scenes that seem suspended between the tangible and the imagined. She captures the silent majesty of winter forests, ethereal animals, blossoms on the verge of movement, and water droplets caught in a perpetual dance of freezing and thawing. Her subjects extend to the sinuous paths carved by mountain ridges, each line and curve a whisper of ancient stories.

Fujita's technique involves photographing ancient gold- and silver-leafed sliding panels, a medium that carries the whispers of the past. These images are then transferred onto photographic paper, serving as the canvases for her final works. This method imbues her photographs with a mystical, layered quality, where colors sing in harmony and the natural elements are given space to unfold their subtle narratives. In "Torikumo," each frame captures a moment of magic, as if the viewer has stepped into a realm where nature converses with the ghosts of time.