Sayuki Inoue, First Light

In 2018, the artist Sayuki Inoue developed the series I can’t recall my first light, following the death of his grandfather. ‘For the final two years of his life, my grandfather was bedridden. With my camera, I captured his eyes every single day until the day he passed away. He slowly lost his ability to talk, and so it was the only way for me, being a photographer, to communicate with him,’ writes the photographer on his website. ‘As I gazed into the eyes of a man who was making his final journey, I became curious about the eyes of newborns when they opened their eyes for the first time in their life.’

Born in Fukuoka in 1974, photographer Sayuki Inoue studied at the Department of Photography, Faculty of Arts, Kyushu Sangyo University in 1993. There, he studied photography history and photographic expression with the late Akira Kokubo. 

Sight at the start

These reflections gave way to an important project for the artist who would go on to witness the birth of more than twenty babies, poised with his camera for the very moment that they opened their eyes. Captured under an almost surgical light, the images have a surreal quality, the close-cropped frame omitting heads and bodies and focusing solely on the eyes to the point of abstraction. 

‘It is not in my memory anymore, but there must have been that moment for me, too, when I tried to open my eyes in order to start living in this world,’ reflects the photographer. 

While the subjects of his photos change, Inoue retains a distinct, sparse, and intimate aesthetic throughout his work, which can be seen through the close-ups of flowers in Observe, or in the macro images of moving water in Intentionless Creature. 

I can’t recall my first light (2018), is a photo series by artist Sayuki Inoue exhibited at NAP Gallery that can be found on his website.