Rinko Kawauchi
Untitled from the series Utatane, 2002 source
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stitch
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Untitled from the series Illuminance, 2011 source
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melt
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Untitled from the series the eyes, the ears, 2005 source
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effervescence
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Rinko Kawauchi was born in 1972 in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She gained interest for graphic design and photography and studied at the Seian College of Art and Design. She graduated in 1993 then went on to work as an advertiser for a few years before going on her own as a fine arts photographer. She since then has released 3 famous collections: Utatane, Hanabi, and Hanoko, as well as many other collections. She has won four awards over the span of her career for her beautiful photos.
Rinko Kawauchi seems to have a very soft, minimalist style. Most of her photos and collections have a very calming, muted feeling to them. She uses light colors such as white and blue that attract the eye, usually the subject is very subtle due to the colors in the back of the photo. Her composition is very delicate and graceful. The blues contrast with whites and yellows and make for a very interesting photo.
Rinko Kawauchi possesses a minimalist philosophy where she believes everything is connected in the world. She also seems to follow the aesthetic of wabi-sabi which is a philosophy of reducing things to their purest form. Kawauchi also seems to embrace imperfection throughout her photos opposed to editing out small flaws. Many of her photos are taken of her surroundings, showing she has a type of awareness for the world around her. She has a philosophy involving the beauty in the world, no matter where it comes from.
Rinko Kawauchi has influenced my work by making me think more about the composition of my photos. Instead of snapping as many photos as possible, I now have a better idea of how to stop and think about how to make my subject look it's best. I now pay attention more to my lighting, whether it is moving outdoors or avoiding yellow toned lights to get a cooler feeling to my photos. I also think more now about what I am trying to capture and how much detail I want to show and highlight in certain parts of the photo. I also realize now that blurriness when used correctly can create an amazing moving feeling to a picture.
I think my photos turned out pretty similar to hers. The sewing machine one is slightly different because I don't because I don't have the blue lighting. The actual machinery itself was pretty close but my thumb was not as blurry as hers was. My second photo is cropped differently and focuses more on the hand. The skin tone is different in my photo as well as the lighting. The final photo was very hard to do considering I had to try and shape the bubbles. The coloring is very different but I got the overall shape of the photo down.
I really enjoy the color and texture of these photos. I believe the soft lighting of the photo captures the eye. The photos all contained a contrast between the lighting and color of the subject versus the color of the background. The images all have a unity about them with the softness and muted colors that make them very easy to look at. I think the light on the sewing machine and the flame of the lighter create an emphasis that make them stand out from the rest of the image.