About Keiichi ITO
When I visited a studio in Echizen in search of handmade Japanese paper to use for my photographic work, I found people who had skills and tools that had been passed down over 1500 years.
Fiber must be extracted from boiled tree branches and then the impurities such as pieces of bark are patiently removed by hand to make the pure material that is needed to make the paper.
I feel a connection to the past, present and future while watching an artisan from behind repeating the same technique developed 1500 years ago.
By observing their timeworn tools I could feel the strong will of the craftsmen to protect this traditional technique and pass it on to the next generation.
This experience provided an important impetus for me to create my work.
My subjects are artifacts and nature that are treasured and protected by strong-willed people.
I feel that those man-made objects such as tools and buildings that have long-served people, and the SAKURA that has been protected carefully from a long time ago, carry the wills of the many people who have inherited them and will pass them on to the next generation.