After dropping out of the graduate program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, I stopped taking photographs. Instead of working on photography, I started focusing on playing music in bands. That was what I wanted to do, and I thought I would never go back to doing photography.
But years later, things were not going how I wanted. I was going through a divorce. My music activity hit the wall and was not going anywhere. One day, at the tiny apartment where I lived, I was by myself, feeling at a loss. I began wandering around and just happened to pick up the Nikon 35mm film camera that I used to use. It fit perfectly in my hands. Then, slowly but surely, my life with a camera began again.
The title “Bouquet For the Sunset U’ve Never Seen” came to my mind when I visited my home in Japan several years ago. My hometown is a beach town, and I grew up by the ocean. One day during my stay, there was this beautiful sunset at the beach, and I wished I was able to show it to the people I had met in the United States. I had known some of them for nearly twenty years, and many of them had become very important to me, but none of them had ever seen my home, and I wanted to share it.
This photo series is the world I see and a gift to the people I have met. My purpose here is to communicate with others through showing memories and thoughts that I once shared with them. My hope is that this gift, this bouquet, brings a smile to those who remember me.
Everyday memories, dreams, and realities suddenly disappear and appear elsewhere. Everyday moments are fragile, and time never stops. This is an obvious thing to say, but I am just so happy that I can realize it once again through photography.
Sho Nikaido