Kuraya Takashi’s Pets is a series of images of “missing pet” posters in Tokyo. The photographs depict the aged and distressed quality of the postings, the paper often water damaged, torn, and taped, and the image of the missing pet pixelated or otherwise distorted as a result of the elements. This worn quality itself is a sad reminder to those viewing the posters, either passing by on the streets of Tokyo or as a part of this series, of the pain felt over the loss of a beloved pet.
Using Google Translate, text from the posters is translated to English, then translated again back to Japanese. These now strange, garbled sentences are used as captions for the pictures. The act of photographing a photograph and running words written by caring pet-owners through multiple translations creates an off-putting effect. My reaction to the images is initially sadness and sympathy, then discomfort once I read the nonsensical text. It feels like I have intruded on something I thought I knew but cannot understand.
“Lower front teeth has come out in the socket to broken left ear, protruding lower jaw is”
“You scared hands, but will come riding to the arm”
“There is a bald about one yen coin on the back”
“It was a idle at home cute petite”
“It is the sum of the neck of the light blue leather”
“There is a kidney disease because of the high Ordinance”
“The white hand on forehead”
“Body is so small, it is worried about not being attacked by crows and cats”
“He is the family who married for 18 years”
From “Pets”
Visit artist's site: kurayatakashi.com
Found via: Feature Shoot
Posted December 11th, 2014
