ZA :

Your elaborate maps are pieced together by over 10,000 35mm film photographs of your experiences in cities such as Tokyo, New Delhi, Amsterdam, New York, and Rio De Janeiro to name a few. To have a map of a city shaped by a person’s experience of it seems like such an interesting take on the close-knit relationship between memory and photography. I was wondering if the photographs you make are often intentional to build on your memories? Or are they more based on composition and interesting frames? Or is it a combination of both?

SN :

While shooting, I am focused on capturing the scene in front of me, which may include compositions being built in my head and capturing interesting frames as well. But after shooting, when I am piecing together the parts in my studio, each piece brings back the landscape that I experienced in that moment as if it were right in front of me.

ZA :

When I look at the pieces of your larger artworks, I’m mesmerized by the seamlessness with which the photographs merge - almost as if they are one large panoramic view of a single scene. How does one achieve this sense of perspective while putting together countless pieces of photographs? Is it something that comes instinctively?

SN :

Firstly, if I were to address the technical aspect - when we look at a large landscape with a lot of depth, our eyes tend to focus on a singular point. But in my photography, I use a telephoto lens and focus on every corner while moving the camera. With the movement of the camera, I am able to capture the details of each individual image. And so, even if the landscapes of other places overlap, they look like a singular space without any sense of discomfort. Secondly, when we register a landscape in our mind, the human eye focuses on the details and reconstructs them to create an image as a memory. And I think that the above way of photographing is similar to this way of registering memories. And finally, this entire process of making a collage is like painting for me; so it feels like I am using each photograph as my material and making a picture with it.

ZA :

I was particularly drawn by Study of Anchorage (2020), and Waves (2020) which were made in response to the stringent Coronavirus Lockdown. The abstractions in both the works are so vastly different from your exercise working with cities. Could you elaborate on both these works and their significance?

SN :

The spread of the coronavirus changed the lives and work of many people around the world, but the government's policy of closing the borders also had a major impact on my practice, as I have always worked with themes of travel. The result was Study of Anchorage (2020) and Waves (2020). The sea is a five-minute walk from my studio which is in the fishing town of Nishiizu. I’d go there everyday, and notice the boats belonging to fishermen who were unable to go fishing. The ropes they had tied to their boats created shadows in the sea that looked quite similar to Japanese calligraphy, and that was the beginning of Study of Anchorage. Similarly with Waves, I always felt that looking at the sea or water was important for my mental health, and so it was inevitable that I would go to the sea in response to the events happening around me.

ZA :

You climbed both, Mt. Everest, as well as Mt. Fuji to create your exquisite dioramas. I was wondering how similar/different both experiences might have been for you? Especially because you have employed different artistic styles to create both the artworks.

SN :

I chose to work with the mountains because when I’m working with city maps, I have a base from which I travel to various places and then return to that base. But suddenly when you shoot within the mountains or are surrounded by natural environments, you are on a journey, changing your base constantly as you shoot. I was keen on shooting such environments, and interested in the expression of Japanese Yamato-e, Chinese Landscape paintings, and Mandalas. Even though the shooting was physically demanding in comparison to shooting in cities, it allowed me new perspectives, and was a wonderful experience. I took on this challenge of creating this series with the question of how I could interpret the divine and symbolic image of the mountains in my mind, and how I could capture the peaks from multiple perspectives by walking and documenting the journey. On the way to Everest, I experienced stark and dynamic changes in the vegetation and natural environment as I climbed further up. I saw schools and lodges built near rivers that were flowing way above the highest altitude of Japan itself. There were many surprises during the journey apart from the serenity and beauty. With Fuji, I decided to climb it from all of its multiple routes. With a total of five times in one season, I was able to see several different sides of the mountain, and what it symbolizes for people through its festivals, events, and the everyday lives of people living in the areas surrounding the mountain. The two journeys helped me understand what the mountains give to people, and I intend to continue this series in the future.

ZA :

Do you ever see yourself shifting to the single image? Or is this way of piecing together worlds something you see yourself practicing for the rest of your career?

SN :

When I started photography, I was fascinated by the power of the single image. Later, even when I studied photography at university, I expressed myself mainly in snapshots. But after thinking in that direction for a while, I felt that collage and continuity were more suited for my style of expression. It’s an in-between, because even though I'm currently working with tens of thousands of photographs, I'm constantly thinking about how I can eventually strip them down and focus on expressing myself with a single image.