Yoshinori Mizutani: Tokyo Parrots

Born 1987 in Fukui, Yoshinori Mizutani attended the Tokyo College of Photography after graduating from Nihon University College of Economics. In 2014, was selected for the LensCulture Emerging Talents Awards 2014 Top 50 and the Foam Magazine Talent Call 2014. Mizutani has quickly established worldwide recognition and amassed an impressive list of solo exhibitions in numerous countries, including, Tokyo (IMA), Beijing (aura gallery) , Belgium (ibasho gallery), Switzerland (Christophe Guye Galerie), London (Webber gallery) and Milan (mc2 gallery).

Japan –  

When I saw the hordes of parrots of several hundred birds, I was very scared, it was like, I had fallen into the movie “bird” directed by Hitchcock.

Birds in this photo were brought to Japan as pets from the tropics in 70’s, and went feral; settling inTokyo. Parrots should not be in Tokyo.

I was shocked by this strange spectacle, felt uncomfortable and continued taking photographs.

 

Written & Photography by Yoshinori Mizutani

 

kippo_03Yoshinori Mizutani © Tokyo Parrots


Here is an image of a flock of colorful birds that seem out of place in Tokyo’s urban environment. It is a part of
Yoshinori Mizutani’s new works, which appear ,at first glance,to be paintings. His new work capture tropical parrots living in the urban environment. Feral parrots have became a global problem. There are nearly 1,000 feral parrots in Tokyo alone. In front of the lens are several hundreds of parrots, which are 40cm tall. At night, they return to and strangely blend in with the gingko trees, where they sleep. Mizutani sometimes uses strobes in daylight to create vivid contrast between the beautiful green parrots and the color of the sky. The brightly colored and slightly bizarre scenes represent one of the city’s attractions-its generous acceptance of what may be strange or out of the ordinary.

 

Reviewed by Mutsuko Ota, IMA Japan.

 

 

Related Posts

Joan Fontcuberta: The Photography of Nature / The Nature of Photography

Catalan photographer Joan Fontcuberta is the 33rd recipient of the prestigious HasselbladFoundation International Award in Photography. To celebrate the award ...

Wasted and Wounded : Palash Krishna Mehrotra on Andri Tambunan

Indonesia – Book review : Against All Odds by Palash Krishna Mehrotra Andri Tambunan had a moment of epiphany five years ago. He ...

Colin Pantall on Kazuma Obara “Silent Histories”

Japan – Grave of the Fireflies is an anime film about the Second World War in Japan.  The main characters ...

Adil Hasan: When Abba was Ill

India – Mahmood Hassan passed away in November 2012 in Jamshedpur, his hometown, where he had worked with Tata Steel ...

Roger Ballen: ‘Maybe I can speak goat, and I can speak a little chicken’

South Africa –    Celebrated Photographer Roger Ballen has been photographing for around 50 years mostly in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

Stockdale on Alejandro Cartagena “Carpoolers”

 Mexico –  “Carpooling” is an American term for an occasion when multiple individuals ride in the same vehicle to the ...

Sanne De Wilde: The Dwarf Empire

China – 小人国 在中国云南、在昆明美丽的滇池湖边、在一片原始森林里,有一个由上百矮人族群组成的梦幻国度—它就是世界蝴蝶生态园·“小人国”。这里的小矮人们勤劳、善良、多才多艺、英勇无畏。他们拥有自己的国度,拥有自己的国王、自己的军队、外交部、御膳厨房和臣民 “In the Chinese province Yunnan, close to the beautiful Dianchi lake, exists a magic land in ...

Douglas Stockdale on W. Eugene Smith’s The Big Book

USA – W. Eugene Smith’s The Big Book is a very interesting and unusual three volume set that includes a ...

Colin Pantall on Ken Grant “No Pain Whatsoever”

England –   ‘It began as a way of remembering the craftspeople and laborers of my adolescence,’ writes Ken Grant ...

Shahria Sharmin: Call me Heena

Bangladesh –  “I feel like a mermaid. My body tells me that I am a man but my soul tells ...

Space Invader – Christian Caujolle

France – Emaho caught up with celebrated French curator and photographer Christian Caujolle to see the view from his rarefied ...

Alberto Lizaralde: “everything will be ok”

Spain –  In life we all go through good times and bad times over and over, tirelessly. I went through ...

Showing Slide 1 of 13