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.

 

 

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