Sakura

Artist Statement
My current body of work, "Sakura", was shot in Japan, in the spring of 2016, during cherry blossom season. This series of color photographs presents the blossoms against an urban cityscape. The city hardscape is used to create a strong graphic background in contrast to the cherry blossoms. The compositions employ a contemporary aesthetic while referencing stylistic elements and themes from traditional Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, particularly cropping, fragmentation, and the inclusion of daily life in some of the images. These photos offer a different view of cherry blossom season by embedding the blossoms in the dense visual grid of the Japanese city and avoiding a romanticized depiction of the trees and blossoms.

Click any image to launch the viewer. Click on the right or left side of the image to go to the previous or next image.
All images © 2016, Mark Taylor

              

              

              

              

Click any image to launch the viewer. Click on the right or left side to go to the previous or next image.
All images © 2016, Mark Taylor, Artist Statement and Resumé

A book of these photographs is available through my Blurb account.