“What's Art?” by Hiroaki Hasumi

Summer in 2014, I joined the photo folio reviews in Arels, France. After having some reviews there, one thought has come up to my mind; what is art?
For me art is the thing that impresses people and feels sympathy with each other through one thing regardless of the difference of the race and the country. Art is the way to find out the better lifestyle.
When we talk about art, we need to have our own philosophy and thought basically. Moreover I became to think the originality, sympathy, positioning, reality and human research are all related and needed in art.

However, when I think about it carefully, some questions have come to my mind; am I taking pictures just because I am searching a better way of life? Or does my work have enough power to move people's hearts in the first place?
So I thought of my characteristics. I wanted to know what kind of person I am.
I like making people get inspired and also impressing them. And I love seeing them happy because of what I have done. I work hard for my favorites but if they aren't, my motivation goes down. I don't like doing the same thing as others but it is OK to apply it to my idea.

Now let me tell you where my characteristic has come from. Soichiro Honda, who is the founder of HONDA, had a great impact on my life. I admired him so much that I started to ride a motorbike when I was 15 years old and later joined the company. With no doubt, I embraced Honda's thought as the way it is. He didn't like doing the same thing with other people. He worked hard only in his strong area.
He didn't do what he didn't like and he let people do what they enjoyed.

Sometimes when people see my work and say l ike this; ' Is this a photograph?' 'It is a painting, isn't it?' 'Isn't that too far for making the photo look like this?' Since I have aspired to becoming a world-class photographer, and my characteristic he lps , what people say even criticizing seems to be compliments.

Here again, I started to think deeply what art meant to me, I have reached an idea; the art is to redefine people's idea and give them a dream, discovery and impression. When people are impressed with my works, I get happier. Damien Hirst, an English artist, is famous for the series of artworks of dead cow preserved in formaldehyde. His work suggests to me that his brilliant idea has come to fruition.
Here are some other artists who have inspired me.

Kaii Higashiyama/Michi (The road)
He is one of Japanese artists. In 1950, he exhibited a painting 'the road'.
With drawing one straight road extending forward, he expressed hope to reconstruct from the war. It was the most chaotic era in Japan.
'The road' is simple but I feel his high quality of sense and his pureness. This is one of my favorite paintings among his artworks. I say it is art.

Heihachiro Fukuda/Sazanami (The ripple), Ame (The rain)
He is also a Japanese artist. 'The ripple' was drawn with all one color, painted on silver foil. In 'the rain', he drew only tile roofing and tried to show the starting rain. Normally when people draw pictures, they will find scenic places but Fukuda chose ordinary places. As he was a person of sensibility, he could relate those scenes to his art.

Tohaku Hasegawa/Shorin-zu byobu
His artwork 'Shorin-zu byobu' is also one of my favorite paintings. An oil painting is drawn in perspective but Japanese painting is not. It is generally drawn planarly. However this painting expresses far and near only with gradations of black ink. I have never seen the painting like this before and I wonder if there are few artists who have this technique in Japan. I'm trying to integrate this technique into my photographic works.

Andy Warhol/32 Cambell's Soup Cans
Andy Warhol is an American artist, called a master of the pop art. '32 Cambell's Soup Cans' is my favorite as well. All different flavored soup cans were lined up and showing mass production and capitalism in America ironically.
The artworks by which I have been influenced are all simple but they show strongly what they want to tell in their works. I want to give such a strong message through my photographs.
What does the art mean to me? It is the way to discover a better life.