ARTISTS

MANDA-LA IS THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK OF PHOTOGRAPHER MASAHIRO USAMI, WHO VISUALIZES THE MEMORY OF A PLACE THROUGH A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL IN A SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH. THE REAL PLEASURE OF THIS SERIES IS ITS REPRESENTATION OF MULTIPLE TIMES AND EVENTS IN A SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH WITHOUT THE USE OF COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS CG. THIS TIME, CHIBA CITY, WHERE THE PHOTOGRAPHER WAS BORN AND LIVED FOR 30 YEARS, SETS THE STAGE FOR MANDA-LA. INITIALLY, THE PHOTOGRAPHER HAD PLANNED TO PORTRAY THE DEVELOPMENT AND CURRENT STATE OF CHIBA CITY, PLACING HIS FATHER, MASAO, A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF THE JFE STEEL CORPORATION (FORMERLY KAWASAKI STEEL CO., LTD.), AT ITS CENTER, BUT INCLUDING HIS FATHER'S FORMER COLLEAGUES, WHO WORKED DURING JAPAN'S PERIOD OF HIGH ECONOMIC GROWTH, THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S YOUNGER BROTHER, AND PRESENT-DAY EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY. TWO YEARS INTO THE PRODUCTION OF THE WORK, HOWEVER, USAMI'S FATHER, WHO HAD BEEN ITS PIVOTAL CHARACTER, PASSED AWAY.

THE WORK WOULD BE COMPLETED IN SPITE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S STRUGGLING TO REALIZE HIS INTENSION AND IMAGE UNDER COMPLICATING CONDITIONS, INCLUDING STRICT SAFETY STANDARDS INSIDE JFE'S STEELWORKS, AND VARIOUS DIFFICULTIES BROUGHT ABOUT BY COVID-19.