One photographer. One image. The story behind the shot.
I had been in the dead of a Japanese summer for a couple of weeks, very humid, when I came across a misting machine at the Osaka Expo last year, coming up out of the ground. I stopped because I had seen people going in. It meant I had the opportunity to get a shot of people surrounded by the mist, a condition for photos that doesn’t happen all too often, and it was also just nice to cool off.
The machine ran in cycles, on for a few minutes and then off again, and I stayed with it for about 20 minutes. I wasn’t waiting for anything in particular. I guess I never do. But when I see what I want, I know it.
What I wanted arrived behind my back. I was busy in there capturing another scene to the left, and when I turned around, there they were. Solitary, and already composed for the way I had taken it.
This was the only frame. I’ve gotten in the habit of only taking one shot for a long time, until very recently, and I’m not sure what I would have done differently here anyway. I was using a Leica M3, a Voigtländer 21mm f/4, and Ilford Delta 3200.
Leaving the left of the frame empty was a decision in the moment. It came from just trying to break my habit of centering the subject, which rarely yields interesting photos. I’m glad it worked out though. You can get the sense of the character’s perspective, looking off into the abyss.
The mist gave me what I had learned on that trip, diffused light. I was initially in Japan to take part in one of the Steve McCurry workshops that summer in Tokyo. He taught us his way of working in the shade, something I had never thought of doing, and now I rarely shoot in direct sunlight, which gives a harshness to a photo and another element to have to work with. He also told me to stick to black and white, as it’s where my strength is. I still try color every so often, but always return committed to monochrome.
I wanted a form. Something anonymous. It not only allows the viewer to relate, but also adds to the misty nature of the photo, something obscure.
I see it as being within the unknown. In one of life’s personal limbo states. Sometimes you don’t know where you’re going, or even where or who you are. All too often alone.
You can follow Jasper’s work on foto @f8andjasper or on Instagram @f8andjasper