The Poetry of Existence – Koyama Toshitaka’s Photography Exhibition 人存在的短詩—小山俊孝攝影個展
Mar 30 - May 4, 2019
The Poetry of Existence – Koyama Toshitaka’s Photography Exhibition
American photographer Emmet Gowin once said, “Photography is a tool for dealing with things everybody knows about but isn’t attending to.”
Aesthetic cultivation is an innate human talent. Since his university years, Toshitaka Koyama has been exploring this gift through photography. Starting with documentary-style realism, he gradually transitioned into surrealist conceptual frameworks and, in recent years, into a realm of abstract thinking. By deconstructing visual elements such as line, color, light, shadow, structure, and texture, Koyama uses the camera not merely to record but to create a distinct visual language and tactile sensibility.
His images evoke the inner beauty of abstract painting and contemporary ink aesthetics, transcending the traditional boundaries of photography and elevating it to a new level of artistic creation—one that stimulates the viewer’s spiritual and emotional resonance.
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Through photographing “traces,” Koyama seeks out the emotional and existential dimensions of humanity. Using close-up techniques, he isolates objects from their context to reveal their internal character. In his post-contemporary expressionist works, he captures weathered materials—leather, metal, walls—that bear the marks of prolonged use, wear, and human contact. These surfaces show scratches, dents, folds, and creases, each telling a quiet story of time’s passage. Such marks become emotional imprints, preserving the atmosphere of a person, moment, or place. The viewer is drawn into a layered, almost metaphysical imagination, stirred by the lingering warmth of human presence.
⸻
Each trace captured through Koyama’s lens represents a moment of civilization. From meticulous observation, he draws inspiration. Cold cement walls take on the softness of rice paper; sharp metal mesh reveals flowing, supple lines; vast cosmic light becomes a quiet expression of Zen; and dreamlike abstract landscapes drift in rhythmic, poetic forms. Subdued tones carry the scent of the past, while irregular textures and raw forms seem frozen in time. These elements construct a conceptual realm of free will and artistic intent.
Koyama’s work invites viewers to become aware of the emotional codes embedded in each object—the quiet friction of people, events, and memories lying just beneath the surface.
人存在的短詩—小山俊孝攝影個展
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美國攝影師埃米特·戈溫(Emmet Gowin)說: 「攝影是一種工具，用來處理大家都知道但視而不見的事物。」美感養成是人與生俱來的天賦，小山俊孝從大學時期接觸了攝影，藉由相機工具發掘潛在的本能，從早期具象紀實拍錄發展「超現實概念」框架，直到這幾年的「抽象思維」的作品，以攝影手法拆解了對線條、色塊、光影、結構、質地的繪畫元素，創作出具個人獨特質感影像的思維風格，畫面傳達出多元繪畫抽象或當代水墨…等內在美感的意象，形式上已跳脫攝影的本質，提升到另一種藝術創作的層次，激發觀者內在「精神情感」的感受力。
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小山俊孝藉由拍攝「痕跡」，尋找人性的情感與意義。以近距離的手法拍攝使物件抽離整體，從而展現個體內在特色。在「後當代表現主義」作品中，藝術家從拍攝的皮革、金屬、牆面…等斑駁的物件題材，觀察到人們因長期使用、老舊磨損、佈滿人接觸物留下的痕跡，感受到…擦撞那一筆一畫、一刀一痕、一捏一揉的時光流逝刮痕，深刻地捕捉﹝人物、時間、場域﹞曾經存在的情緒紀錄，形成立體的幻化想像讓人內心感到悸動，這種對人存在的溫度體認感。
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透過小山俊孝鏡頭觀看的每一個痕跡，都是代表一個文明的曾經存在，從細微觀察中汲取靈感，冷硬的水泥牆也有如宣紙的輕柔質感，銳利金屬網中流動著柔軟的線條，浩瀚深邃的宇宙星光漂浮著寧靜的禪意，夢境中遊蕩著抽象、律動、詩意的景色，低沉的色調中回味著過往氣息，紋理脈絡流露出粗糙不規則的線條色塊，彷彿凝結在某一刻的歲月中，建構出人意志的自由思維概念層次，並讓觀者意識到物件背後隱含人、事件、記憶摩擦的情感密碼。
American photographer Emmet Gowin once said, “Photography is a tool for dealing with things everybody knows about but isn’t attending to.”
Aesthetic cultivation is an innate human talent. Since his university years, Toshitaka Koyama has been exploring this gift through photography. Starting with documentary-style realism, he gradually transitioned into surrealist conceptual frameworks and, in recent years, into a realm of abstract thinking. By deconstructing visual elements such as line, color, light, shadow, structure, and texture, Koyama uses the camera not merely to record but to create a distinct visual language and tactile sensibility.
His images evoke the inner beauty of abstract painting and contemporary ink aesthetics, transcending the traditional boundaries of photography and elevating it to a new level of artistic creation—one that stimulates the viewer’s spiritual and emotional resonance.
⸻
Through photographing “traces,” Koyama seeks out the emotional and existential dimensions of humanity. Using close-up techniques, he isolates objects from their context to reveal their internal character. In his post-contemporary expressionist works, he captures weathered materials—leather, metal, walls—that bear the marks of prolonged use, wear, and human contact. These surfaces show scratches, dents, folds, and creases, each telling a quiet story of time’s passage. Such marks become emotional imprints, preserving the atmosphere of a person, moment, or place. The viewer is drawn into a layered, almost metaphysical imagination, stirred by the lingering warmth of human presence.
⸻
Each trace captured through Koyama’s lens represents a moment of civilization. From meticulous observation, he draws inspiration. Cold cement walls take on the softness of rice paper; sharp metal mesh reveals flowing, supple lines; vast cosmic light becomes a quiet expression of Zen; and dreamlike abstract landscapes drift in rhythmic, poetic forms. Subdued tones carry the scent of the past, while irregular textures and raw forms seem frozen in time. These elements construct a conceptual realm of free will and artistic intent.
Koyama’s work invites viewers to become aware of the emotional codes embedded in each object—the quiet friction of people, events, and memories lying just beneath the surface.
人存在的短詩—小山俊孝攝影個展
.
美國攝影師埃米特·戈溫(Emmet Gowin)說: 「攝影是一種工具，用來處理大家都知道但視而不見的事物。」美感養成是人與生俱來的天賦，小山俊孝從大學時期接觸了攝影，藉由相機工具發掘潛在的本能，從早期具象紀實拍錄發展「超現實概念」框架，直到這幾年的「抽象思維」的作品，以攝影手法拆解了對線條、色塊、光影、結構、質地的繪畫元素，創作出具個人獨特質感影像的思維風格，畫面傳達出多元繪畫抽象或當代水墨…等內在美感的意象，形式上已跳脫攝影的本質，提升到另一種藝術創作的層次，激發觀者內在「精神情感」的感受力。
.
小山俊孝藉由拍攝「痕跡」，尋找人性的情感與意義。以近距離的手法拍攝使物件抽離整體，從而展現個體內在特色。在「後當代表現主義」作品中，藝術家從拍攝的皮革、金屬、牆面…等斑駁的物件題材，觀察到人們因長期使用、老舊磨損、佈滿人接觸物留下的痕跡，感受到…擦撞那一筆一畫、一刀一痕、一捏一揉的時光流逝刮痕，深刻地捕捉﹝人物、時間、場域﹞曾經存在的情緒紀錄，形成立體的幻化想像讓人內心感到悸動，這種對人存在的溫度體認感。
.
透過小山俊孝鏡頭觀看的每一個痕跡，都是代表一個文明的曾經存在，從細微觀察中汲取靈感，冷硬的水泥牆也有如宣紙的輕柔質感，銳利金屬網中流動著柔軟的線條，浩瀚深邃的宇宙星光漂浮著寧靜的禪意，夢境中遊蕩著抽象、律動、詩意的景色，低沉的色調中回味著過往氣息，紋理脈絡流露出粗糙不規則的線條色塊，彷彿凝結在某一刻的歲月中，建構出人意志的自由思維概念層次，並讓觀者意識到物件背後隱含人、事件、記憶摩擦的情感密碼。
