Koji Onaka

Artist Statement:

In 2003, “slow boat” cast off from a riverbank and slowly made its way downstream. It soon reached the open sea, drifted across multiple oceans, and finally arrived in New York in 2006 by way of the German publishing house schaden.com.

Nearly all of the photos contained in twin boat were produced in the same period as those in slow boat. In this sense, the two volumes could be considered fraternal twins. Whereas “slow boat” (edited by myself and Michitaka Oda of Tokyo’s Sokyu-sha) is akin to an older brother, “twin boat” (edited by Miwa Susuda) is its little sister, at last welcomed into the world a decade late.

Ten years ago, I wrote in the afterword to “slow boat” that the publication might be my last collection of monochrome photographs. Since then, photography has changed dramatically. Color negative film and printing paper have been replaced with the advent of digital photography, and are on the verge of being extinguished like candles flickering precariously in the wind. At present, I still have yet to consider working with a digital camera, and might resume shooting in black and white.

However, there is no undertaking as tedious as darkroom work. Preparation and cleanup take time. The increased cost of now expensive printing paper makes it uneconomical to use many sheets until the best result is attained. What’s more, prints never seem to turn out how I originally envisioned. But these tribulations are good. The time spent worrying about various details inside the darkroom is perhaps the most enjoyable and even luxurious aspect of the artistic process. I can’t imagine it any other way.

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