Camera Japan is an annual Japanese cultural festival, organised in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The main focus is on film, but they also explore the visual arts, music, dance, fashion, architecture, food, and much more.
This year, I was honoured that they exhibited 35 portraits and questions from Hāfu2Hāfu. It was a fantastic experience to see so many photos displayed in a beautiful venue (Lantaren Venster) in Rotterdam. From a distance, I observed visitors while they were looking at the portraits and interacted with a few of them afterwards.
Camera Japan Festival Director, Alex Oost, about the exhibit:
“Hāfu2Hāfu gives an insight in what is on the mind of hafu and triggers the visitors to think about their questions too. They can ask themselves the same question but are also challenged to put themselves in the position of the portrayed hāfu looking at them.
Miyazaki’s works have different layers. There are existential questions about who you are and what it means to be living in two cultures. This is different for everyone. There is also playful element in this visual aspect: what are the Japanese traits and how strongly is the other nationality visible?”
Special thanks to Alex Oost, Raluca Baicu, Nancy Fornoville, Jarrod Krosendijk and Man-Yee Mok at Camera Japan and the people at Fujifilm for providing the lovely prints!
