Reveries of Giverny 2023

The roots for this series began a few years ago by experimenting with a new technique involving motion.
Here, the subjects are the denizens of a Shinto shrine pond. There was nothing spectacular about the environment — the kaleidoscope of fall foliage had disappeared, the greys and browns of winter were creeping in. I began watching the koi fish, observing their movements, interactions, not only among themselves, but also with me. At that moment, I thought of the Impressionists and wondered if I could make images of these koi as if they were being painted and not photographed.
I started thinking of my camera as a painter’s brush moving over the canvas. The images were created “in-camera,” without the wizardry of computer technology.
Each time I returned to the pond I found another interesting aspect to photograph as well as a problem. Resolving the problem became the catalyst for determining the different ways of photographing the koi and the stories I imagined they were telling.

Ghost Villages — Japan 2024

The photographs in this mini series were all taken from a very small mountainside village called Sabukawa. The village was abandoned by its last remaining residents in 1989. In 1878 there were 42 houses in the village and 215 residents. In 1965 the village contained 50 houses with 211 residents, including a school for elementary and junior high students. However, as the forestry and farming industry declined in this area, most of the villagers began leaving, looking for other opportunities. The school closed in 1978. Finally in 1989, the 13 remaining people asked the government to help them move out of the region, bringing an end to the village’s 400-year history.
As of 2022, there are eight million abandoned houses, some of which are in the 8,000 abandoned villages throughout Japan that nature has reclaimed, like Sabukawa. The aim of this project is to bring attention to the rural to urban migration and its detrimental impact for both rural and urban locations.

Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.

Mick Stetson

United States

https://www.mickstetson.photography/

MICK STETSON is a fine art and humanitarian photographer who specializes in documenting cultures and people from remote regions within Asia as well as other social issues concerning the disadvantaged or disenfranchised members of modern society.
Cultures — Mick focuses on diminishing cultures, ones that are transitioning or transforming as a result of the encroachment of modernity. He is especially interested in the effect that globalization is having on traditional lifestyles of various ethnic groups and how it affects their individual and cultural freedom.
Social Issues — Mick strives to give marginalized members a voice, which is usually silenced. He works with these members over long periods of time, to gain the access and trust necessary to produce intimate, emotionally-charged photographs that take the viewer viscerally into these people’s worlds.
Since Covid-19, he's been rediscovering his early passions and trying to meld photojournalism practices with the aesthetics of art.