©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J, #012, 2023

Guest Editor and German photographer Melanie Schoeniger shares a week of European photographers whose work she finds inspiring. Melanie’s sensibility is translated through the work she shares; all the photographer’s work has a sense of mystery, interconnectedness and wonder.

Sayuri Ichida is a UK-based Japanese artist working in photography. Ichida’s practice focuses on themes of self-identity, reflecting on her own memories and life experiences. In her photographs, she explores the complexities of emotional states by portraying the human form and sculptural objects.

She states:
“I look for beauty in scenes that evoke a sense of longing and timelessness, two elements that are fundamental to my work.”

When it comes to personal yet collective experiences and traumas, Sayuri has the most sensitive approach. I adore her subtle style of encircling these heavy topics and providing them a space to breathe and unfold in an overwhelmingly beautiful and touching way. Her immediately recognizable aesthetic is temptingly serene, well-balanced, and mysterious.

With ease, she purposefully weaves an array of intricate images into a coherent sequence with a solid poetic undercurrent.

Today, we will dive into her latest project, “Ctrl Shift + J,” raising themes of identity, alienation, and belonging. Please enjoy this remarkable and meaningful visual feast of photopolymer photogravure prints, hand printed by the artist.

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #009, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #014, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #002, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #004, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #003, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #010, 2023

The series captures the essence of my personal narrative, starting from the relocation my family underwent when I entered elementary school. As my father was relocated to Niigata prefecture, over 1,000 km away from our hometown, my mother made the courageous decision to uproot us from the big city and join him in the rural town. The sense of being an outsider, amplified by our strong Kyushu dialect (spoken in the Southern region), made our adjustment to the new environment a challenging process for each family member. Along with the prior moves I experienced as a child, this event contributed to a deep-rooted dissonance with any one place, making it difficult for me to settle down. This dissonance and the ensuing quest for belonging became defining aspects of my identity.

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + #024,, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + #007, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #015, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #001, 2023

A few years ago, through a DNA test, I discovered a small percentage of my ancestral background is British, a surprising revelation that inadvertently brought me to the very country where my mysterious great-great-grandfather hailed from. In this serendipitous connection, I can’t help but draw parallels between his experience as an alien in a foreign land and my own journey as an immigrant in the UK.

This series will comprise a multitude of subjects, ranging from architectural elements to my grandfather’s old passport photo and unknown relatives from my family album and so on. Seemingly out-of-place geometric forms are employed in the images to reinforce the sensation of not fitting in, distracting the viewer’s perception with ambiguity.

With Ctrl Shift + J, I strive to evoke a profound sense of introspection in viewers, inviting them to reflect on their own experiences of displacement and the search for belonging.

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #008, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #018, 2023

©Sayuri Ichida, Ctrl Shift + J #020, 2023

Sayuri Ichida, born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1985, is a UK-based artist specializing in photography. Her work explores self-identity, personal memories, and the human form, often incorporating sculptural elements. Ichida’s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo shows in 2022 at PhMuseum Lab, IBASHO Gallery, Unseen Amsterdam, and the InCadaques International Photography Festival. Her book “Absentee” was selected as one of the top ten photobooks by the jury of the Prix Nadar Prize in 2022 and selected as a finalist for the Lucie Photobook Prize in 2023. She was an artist-in-residence with Light Work in 2023. Her work “Ctrl Shift +J” was shortlisted for the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2023/2024 and The Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship 2023. It was also awarded the Benrido Award as part of the Hariban Award in 2023. After graduating from Tokyo Visual Arts College in 2006, Ichida transitioned from commercial photography to art, completing her MA in Photography Arts at the University of Westminster in 2022. Her artworks are held in the collections of Museum Voorlinden (Netherlands) as well as various private collections.

Ichida will have a solo presentation with IBASHO at Spark Art Fair Vienna, 15 – 17 March.

This series will be presented by IBASHO at Art Paris 2024, 4 – 7 April.

View Sayuri’s work on instagram her website and instagram: @the_final_view