HOMEProjectsPoster Sessions and Dancing Dialogs
Recently,
it seems that the teenagers around town are changing. The long hair of
boys which was often criticized for offending public decency a few years
ago, has already become a familiar sight. In the city, as well as the boys
and girls who sit down anywhere, smoke cigarettes and stare around themselves,
there are also students preparing for the school entrance examinations,
staring at cram books even as they walk. It's not just the appearances,
such as the bleached hair and "loose socks" of high school girls,
that are changing. It seems that lifestyles, ways of thinking, sensitivity,
and actions themselves are changing The so-called Net Generation starts
from this generation. Using many new digital tools and communication tools,
they are able to play around, learn, and make friends. New media appears
in all segments of life. They express themselves through the media. At
all times, they are connected with somebody else through the media. Orthodox
frameworks such as family and regional society, cannot be seen. There is
communication between friends with the same interests, regardless of time
and place. There is a new sense of life, an integration of cyber and real.
As
an example of this new sense, there are insights that can be analyzed from
photos taken by teenagers. The photos that they take are much different
from photos that previous generations used to take. One large point of
change is the "face". When a photographer from a previous generation
took photos, we would usually include the scenery or the situation in it.
An ordinary photo of our generation is a figure, showing the peace sign
with two fingers, standing in the center of the scene. But, recent teenagers
take photos more freely, taking their faces, close-up of parts of the face
such as the eye, or a part of the body. The sight of schoolgirls pointing
the lenses of disposable cameras at themselves, not even checking through
the finders, seemd wierd. They seem to be aware of the expressions of the
human body ,especially of the "face". Human beings originally
have the instinct to be interested in "faces". As we can tell
from the saying, "eyes say as much as the mouth", even the eyes
have great expressive power. As the teenagers searched for ways to express
themselves, they realized the potential of the expression of "faces".
To them, it is very important that they express themselves originally and
communicate it to others.
One reason for these new photos is the spread of compact disposable cameras.
With these simple cameras, anybody is able to take photos anywhere, and
cameras have become much closer to everyday life. Teenagers always carry
around these cameras.
The
next important thing which appeared was "Print Clubs". With the
Print Clubs, taking photos of the "faces" became much more common.
There must never have been a period in history when so many photos of the
faces were taken than the period of 1996 until 1997, when Print Clubs were
in the peak of their boom. This boom is not of a temporary nature, and
the communication through facial photos are still being continued. All
girls went crazy over these Print Clubs. It seems that this has changed
their interest in faces. For example, let's take a look at a shooting of
Print Clubs. The girls go as far back as possible in order to make their
face look as small as possible. Also, their faces look long vertically
or fat horizontally, according to each machine, and the machines that make
their faces look long, or thin in other words, are obviously more popular.
Recently, it is said that the machines themselves are made so that the
faces look a bit thin than reality.
The facial diet boom is another evidence of the attention to faces. The
girls have chosen to use cosmetics with facial firming effects, such as
"Lostalotte". There are even facial diets. The wish to make their
faces look as small as possible, is becoming stronger and stronger.
Through TV dramas, it seems that the number of facial close-up shots have
become a lot more. The shots are so close that the face does not even fit
in. As can be seen from this, the handling of the "face" is starting
to have new meaning. The "face" is where all kinds of feelings,
such as happiness, anger, sadness and enjoyment, are expressed. It can
be concluded that they are starting to put more importance on the "face",
or people's expressions.
As explained above, the teenagers' way of thinking for photos has changed
greatly. Please take a look at their photos in the pages of "Teen's
Photo Project". They have created their own story in each of their
photos, and taken the photos with their own view of the world. We would
like to continue to present through the Internet, the senses created by
the new generation.
Kawamura, Tomohiro
