Commission: Yuki Onodera research

I found a series of work by Yuki Onodera which really interested me; the series 'Portrait of Second-Hand Clothes' 1994-97 consists of second hand clothes which featured previously in the exhibition called 'No Man's Land' by Christian Boltanski. Onodera photographed items of clothing which seem to float in front of a cloudy sky; however in reality she has simply propped them up against a window.

 

Taken at an abruptly close-up angle using a square format the old sagging clothes seem to stand up proudly to attention. While Boltanski piled up the discarded clothes into huge mountains highlighting issues of lost childhood & loneliness, Onodera stands up them up as if a breath of new life has been blown into them. The way they are presented makes the audience imagine the figure that could have once filled them. Much like many of her series, 'Portraits of Second-Hand clothes' could have multiple explanations, fade memories or even strong memories, it portrays the idea of waste in a very different way to Boltanski's installation.

'Eleventh Finger' is a series of surreptitious snapshots of strangers in the street. Onodera has superimposed elaborately cut-out lace-like patterns over the faces to create an anonymity. This gives the feel that the worn clothes are not owned by anyone- no-body.

The title intrigued me & when researching it I found that it was simply the unknown collaboration between subject's ten fingers and photographer's one shutter finger. I like the way the clothes almost have no visible owner, Onodera gives the look of inanimate clothes walking around bodyless; no past, no memories & therefore in a metaphorical sense are being wasted.

In dissimilar ways both of these series of work look at the concept of materialistic waste. I like the disembodied look which I am starting to consider for my final images, however I want my images to be more personal through the clothes I choose rather than random.