I'm regarding my photographic work as some sort of virus. For example, try and imagine a blind man who regains the sight of his eyes. Light hits the retina, and the optic nerves regularly transmit information to the brain. But even though this man is able to sense the light that hits his eyes, he won't be able to "see things" for a while. That's because there are no "things" stored in his database of visual experience. What one "has never seen" is something that "can't be seen". When you can't "see things", you are unable to perceive the outside world. So, how about people who can "see things"? They are equipped with databases in which selected objects from their previous visual experience are stored. The visual experiences of people living today are directly and recursively regulated by the acoustic and optical information the media are showering us with. One could go as far as to say that, what we perceive depends on the media rather than on the "things" themselves. What interests me is to see what such contemporary human individuals perceive - and become able to perceive - when infected with the virus of my photography.
Nobuhiro Fukui
May, 2007
