Places: Shiho Kito- Japan/India/UK

Photographer Shiho Kito’s work often moves between the past and present, and amongst the places she calls home.

Shiho was born and brought up in Japan, and found herself in a “foreign” land only when she traveled to Vietnam as a 20 year old. After this, she went to the UK to not only continue her education in photography, but to wholeheartedly embrace the English language. And then, a chance meeting with India as an exchange student led to a committed relationship with the city of Ahmedabad – its people, its past and its strange complexities.

She is currently based in Tokyo with her partner and an adopted cat, and travels to the UK and India quite regularly. Her work, of course, moves along with her in every which way. Her project Pikari, for example, was planted in Japan and bloomed in India. I had a conversation with Shiho – who is also a curator and teacher – over Skype about these three places and their influence on her work, among other things. Read on:

Do the places you live in and travel to influence the kind of work you do?

Absolutely. New places always allow me to see the depth and diversities of the world, which are unknown and enthralling. When I was growing up, I never even imagined living outside Japan. Going out of the country seemed very affluent at that time. However, may be because I was a middle child, I always wanted to be on my own and I also wanted to learn more about the world. So, I finally decided to travel to Vietnam when I was 20. While I knew there was a world outside my country, finally stepping out into that world surprised me. It also gave me some awareness to my own country, my own culture. I opened myself up to something very new.

When it comes to my (photography) practice, there are two parts to my creative process. In the first stage, it is a reaction. I react to the place I have been to or I am in. And gradually, it shifts to the reflection space. I need to develop the work, learn, research, and reflect on it.

Shiho Kito

You were born in Iwata and grew up in Kasugai in Japan. Tell us a bit about both these places and your childhood memories there.

Iwata is an old town which is known for its beautiful green tea, melon and traditional festivals. Kasugai is a suburb town that I grew up in with my parents and siblings. My childhood was very peaceful. My creative influences came from my parents who are both teachers. They are not strict at all, but are always keen on showing us the world through literature.

You eventually went to Farnham, UK for your studies. Is that right?

Yes. Farnham is a leafy, quiet and slightly posh town in Surrey, which is known for its gardens and for the homes of affluent families who commute to the city of London. I loved its calm atmosphere that helped me concentrate on my photography studies. The university I studied in, University for the Creative Arts Farnham (UCA Farnham), taught me how to keep practicing and managing projects as a professional. Farnham is my second home. (Ahmedabad can be the third then.)

What made you choose UK in the first place?

I really enjoyed reading books, and I wanted to be able to read, and talk, in English. I didn’t want to read the translated versions. Do you feel that too? If you read the same story in Hindi and in English, does it feel different?

Yes, reading original is always slightly different from reading a translated version. In fact, I have had this wish of being able to read the original writings of Japanese writers like Haruki Murakami instead of the translated versions.

Interestingly, I have read Murakami in both English and Japanese, and he is probably the only one whose work retains the original essence in the translated versions. So anyways, yes, I enjoyed reading books and wanted to study English formally. That’s why I was interested in the UK. Eventually though, I decided to study photography there.

While I knew there was a world outside my country, finally stepping out into that world surprised me. It also gave me some awareness to my own country, my own culture.

Dear Prince

How was your initial experience there, especially in terms of the culture?

The most remarkable thing for me is that people in the UK really value their traditions. It’s a big difference between the UK and Japan. In Japan, most of the old and traditional architecture is gone. Some of it still exists, but nowadays most of the houses and buildings are tend to be designed and built in a modern manner. People want their houses rebuilt with an earthquake resistance, which is quite understandable. In the UK, they haven’t got significant seismic issues, and therefore it’s a totally different story.

Where all have you travelled in the UK?

I have been to London, Brighton, Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, and Edinburgh. In the countryside, I have visited small towns in and around South West England, which I enjoyed walking to on the weekends.

You obviously have very strong ties to India. When did you first visit?

Actually, to be very honest, I never imagined myself travelling to India. I had a very biased idea about it. I always thought of India as a very hippie travel experience. But, it turned out to be very different and comfortable for me. My first visit to India was in 2008 when I came to Ahmedabad as a short-term exchange student from UCA Farnham to National Institute of Design (NID). I found something familiar in the land and people in Ahmedabad, perhaps because I travelled there from England. In a way, India was a little closer to my home country Japan, geographically and culturally, as compared to the UK.

What brought me back to Ahmedabad are the people I met here. I felt quite fortunate to get to know such talented young people at NID. They have always been kind, generous and friendly enough to allow me to feel that I am a part of their community.

And you also taught at NID eventually.

Yes. I was there for two years to teach and to do my own practice. I just came back to Japan. My next visit to NID is in September this year.

Actually, to be very honest, I never imagined myself travelling to India. I had a very biased idea about it. I always thought of India as a very hippie travel experience. But, it turned out to be very different and comfortable for me.

A lot of your projects have been conceived in Ahmedabad too. Tell us about that.

The city of Ahmedabad has always fascinated me. I feel that I owe the city and its people for having me and encouraging me to do these projects. What I have found most interesting in this country is that contradictory ideas can co-exist in societies. Changes and Traditions, Secularism and Intolerance, as well as diversities of people, cultures, faith.

My project Walls, for example, is inspired by the Gujarat riots that took place in 2002. It happened six years before I first visited Ahmedabad. I couldn’t even fathom that such a thing could have happened in a peaceful place like this. I came back to the city after six months to take more pictures. During this time I found out more details about what had actually happened. I was shocked. It got me thinking about religion, about what people believe in. I don’t have any particular religion and I am not an atheist either. Religion is quite a vague idea for me. By taking portraits of these different people, I wanted to know what kind of people they were and what they believed in.

For this project, I usually visited my sitters’ places or somewhere they were comfortable. I carried my large format camera, which is very old and outdated with 4×5 inch colour negative films attached to the photograph. I intentionally used such a traditional methodology to slow down the process of taking a photograph and to observe each and every moment I shared with my sitter. At the moment of picture making, I looked at him or her to really observe. It was then that I realized that it was not only me who was observing, but I was being observed by my subject too. We both became the ‘Other’ for each other, and as unique and different individuals we were facing each other to understand our differences. We had a wall or a distance that we will never be able to fill in. But the photographs will remain as witness of our moments together, which were intense, fragile and ephemeral.

Walls

The city of Ahmedabad has always fascinated me. I feel that I owe the city and its people for having me and encouraging me to do these projects. What I have found most interesting in this country is that contradictory ideas can co-exist in societies. Changes and Traditions, Secularism and Intolerance, as well as diversities of people, cultures, faith.

Could you talk about your project Pikari that was also executed in Ahmedabad?

The borrowed elements for this project were the idea of celebration at Diwali (an Indian festival), which can be ephemeral and permanent; feeble but with warm lights from small houses and shacks on the streets; the idea of Old City (that remains traditional with gradual changes) and New City (that’s an expanding urbanity with rapid and drastic changes) in Ahmedabad.

The project actually started in the countryside in Japan and moved with me to the UK. And then when I finally came to Ahmedabad, it was Diwali time. I was simply compelled to look, stare and photograph the lights at night.

Pikari

How does Tokyo inspire you?

Although I currently live in Tokyo with my partner (and a cat that I adopted from a street in Gujarat), I have been feeling foreign to the city. On one hand, I like its organised way of living, but on the other, I feel confined with it homogenized atmosphere. It could also be due to the fact that I am a country girl. I don’t like cities too much. Even in Tokyo, my favorite places are small alleyways, traditional houses in East Tokyo and cherry trees along the rivers.

Also, I have been living outside Japan for so long now – with seven years in the UK and two years in India. I just feel more comfortable in India and the UK than I do in Japan.

Are there any particular places you head to if you are feeling low?

Into the wild. In Tokyo, I usually go to the Rinshi no Mori Park near my house.

How involved do you get in the contemporary art scene in Tokyo? Is there a sense of community amongst the artists there?

I occasionally show my work at art fairs and galleries, but mainly in the UK and India. I just started out in Japan. Compared to India, I feel that Tokyo has a relatively larger art market, in both traditional and contemporary style.

Thanks to my education at the Tokyo University of the Arts, which is a national academic institute with limited numbers of students, I have a community of people here that support each other. However, I feel that I connect to the artists and photographers in India more easily. They have very strong bonds and are open-minded.

Shiho Kito

Although I currently live in Tokyo with my partner (and a cat that I adopted from a street in Gujarat), I have been feeling foreign to the city. On one hand, I like its organised way of living, but on the other, I feel confined with it homogenized atmosphere.

How does travelling inspire you?

I like travelling on my own to emerge into new places. Every small activity like walking, travelling by train or buying an apple can be adventurous when you are travelling. I always feel that travelling is like going back to being a little girl. I have a basic idea about a place, but when I actually visit it, everything is completely new. It reveals things which I learn, and it also makes me questions things I already believe in.

I am always interested in travel in terms of living in a new place. I like to completely immerse myself in a place. I want to know everything about it, from its history to its supermarkets. While it is exciting, there are a lot of challenges too like language barrier.

Where did you last travel to?

The last place I visited was Tehran, Iran to meet my best friend and to attend his niece’s wedding. I found Tehran to be a very clean and cultural city. I couldn’t find much contemporary art during my brief stay there but there were nice art galleries, old museums, and great cafes to drink coffee at. The wedding was quite interesting too. In the ceremony hall, they had a massive space for the dance floor and the rest of it was for old people to sit in. There was a lot of dancing and performances. And just before the midnight, the dinner was served.

What are you currently working on?

My current project is Emonogatari: This is Our Story. Emonogatari means Picture stories in Japanese. In this project, I explore people’s memories and family histories during the Second World War. I started this project in Japan, and when I went to India, I took the project with me to places like Nagaland, Manipur, and Calcutta.

I am always interested in travel in terms of living in a new place. I like to completely immerse myself in a place. I want to know everything about it, from its history to its supermarkets.