Originally posted April 17 2015
When we interviewed César Ordóñez in 2013, he told us about his ‘Tokyo Blur’ photo series. He told us that ‘the out of focus portion of the pictures represents this space I feel between myself and the world around me when I’m in Tokyo. It’s a positive feeling’. When you look at the photos, which have recently been published as a hardcover photo book, you can really sense what he means. Usually, images of Tokyo show a very specific side of the city – like the bright lights, the colour, the tourist hotspots – but Ordóñez really gets under her skin.
As with his previous ‘Ashimoto’ series, he manages to capture moments from everyday life; moments that are rarely seen or felt by those who don’t live here. Through images in black and white, most of them at night and often close to abstraction, he takes us to a mysterious, sensual and ‘blurred’ Tokyo.
In his own words: ‘I’m in Tokyo. It’s dark and raining. Everything blurs around me. The faces, lights, the times I’ve gone through. I feel myself fading away, losing control. I’m not worried, far from it: a sense of stillness, recognition and renewal flows through me. Beyond the first mists that hampered my sight, everything now comes limpid, crystal clear. I begin to tidy up my lifetime, trying to comprehend why I came here.’
‘Tokyo Blur’ is available at Shashasha in Tokyo for ¥3,670, or online at www.cesarordonez.com.
