I have always been reluctant to photograph fireworks.

They all look good to some extent but have no originality at all as a photograph. Background of fireworks only matter in order to be unique and it has led me think that beauty of firework itself is difficult to work on alone.

When I started using a digital camera mainly in 2012, I realized how high the resolution was on my PC monitor, unlike old film photography- in terms of resolution, it was totally beyond my expectation. Then I decided to photograph objects that I haven’t really seen in high resolution before. CCD converts light into signals in order to convey information to be recorded in a device.

I felt as if the all-electric process of digital photography is like creating a universe in a small box of camera.

That summer, I went to see fireworks on the Tama River.

Some of the pieces I would call core of the series “HANABI(fireworks)” were taken that time.

I felt like I was looking at the universe when countless beauties burst upon my sight in a moment of explosion.

In each of fireworks looking different as the one and only existence, I saw space and time spread eternally.

The “HANABI” series express longing for the universe. Using fireworks photographed on paper, I am trying to realize the universe I haven’t seen with my own eyes.

What kind of lights would there be, if I could ever able to go to the space?

I would never be bored photographing the brightest spectacle.

Nobuto Osakabe