Meet the unconventional artist Tomomichi Nakamura, who synthesizes the forms of ants and humans to create unseen photographs and film works. This documentary follows his journey of continuing his artistic endeavors despite facing challenges in life. Ants, living in colonies, are small and vulnerable, recognizing allies and enemies through scent—similar to humans in many ways. Utilizing ants with human-like behaviors, Nakamura creates works that express aspects of himself and humanity. For instance, photos featuring tiny ants arranged in human forms evoke a sense of human frailty and powerlessness. While Nakamura’s creations have received acclaim both domestically and internationally, he has long carried a sense of difficulty in his life. Born with a congenital disability, Nakamura persists in his artistic pursuits with the support of his partner. One day, a conversation with a parent and child during a photo shoot brings an unexpected realization.
This is an NHK documentary program featuring Tomomichi Nakamura as the subject. The program is still available for on-demand viewing on NHK. If you’re interested, please do watch it!
At the Hamamatsu Film Festival and Hamamatsu Anime Festa 2022, screenings of the Tomomichi Nakamura Works Collection “Solitary Genius: Tomomichi Nakamura Works Collection” will be held.
To all the staff members of the Hamamatsu Film Festival, thank you for inviting me. Although I have already ceased production of visual works, I am grateful for the opportunity to be introduced in this way.
Details can be found in the D Program towards the bottom of the page.
In 2004, though it hadn’t been diagnosed yet, I, who had autism spectrum disorder, created my first animation based on the ‘enormous power’ and ‘unresolved image’ I felt at the time. I now recognize that the ‘enormous power’ I felt back then was the power of the ‘majority,’ the force of the crowd. This animation portrays the internal struggle stemming from the resentment and helplessness arising from that.
2007 Image Forum Festival 2007 *Encouragement Prize (Japan) 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival *Apocalyptic (and other) Anime”(Canada) 2008 Calgary International Film Festival *An Animator’s World Short (Canada) 2013 EXPERIMENTA *SPECIAL FOCUS – JAPAN: THE SHADOW WORLD(India)
An animation piece created concurrently with “My Town,” this work re-edited unresolved footage that couldn’t be fully incorporated into it. Reminiscing about my childhood spent watching ants, I found myself identifying with them. The technique used in this work later evolved into photographic works, and its successor, “Like Ants,” won the Grand Prize at the Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2019. Currently, the series continues as “Ants Plus.”
2009 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen *International Competition (Germany) 2009~2010 Les Rencontres Internationales (France) (Spain) (Germany)
I focused on the differences in the existence of two identical twin sisters with the same genetic information, mainly because the concept of genetics is not unrelated to the genetic issues I face. From there, I questioned what it means to exist. The “Mock Angel” is a “hybrid species” positioned between humans and birds. Many hybrid species are known for being unable to leave offspring. Although they may resemble angels, they are not considered a species. I juxtaposed such biological issues with the concept of not leaving offspring (ending one’s own genetic line), which relates to myself. “Mock Angel” signifies the artwork itself for me. One could say it represents an inheritance of knowledge.
2015 45th Tampere Film Festival *International Competition (Finland) 2015 Image Forum Festival 2015 (Japan) 2015 34th Uppsala International Short Film Festival *International Competition(Sweden) 2016 Interfilm 32nd International Short Film Festival Berlin *International Competition (Germany)
Okayama Art & Culture Award *Second Prize
他
Ants
Tomomichi Nakamura Music:Hiromichi Sakamoto
2020, 27 minutes, Japan
Should this be considered a film? In reality, it is a photographic video presented at the Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2020 Grand Prize solo exhibition. I added credits and music to it. Truth be told, both film and photography are currently dealt with as visual media, but there are significant directional differences between them, perhaps due to cultural disparities. This documentary video was created as an intermediary form. It could be considered a somewhat rebellious piece against the style, as it may appear strange from either perspective.
2020 Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2020 *Solo exhibition (Japan) 2021 FIDBA 9- INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL OFBUENOS AIRES *Nuevas Narrativas (Argentine)
I will be holding a solo exhibition at the Nagi MOCA in Okayama Prefecture. This exhibition will mainly feature reorganized works from the Grand Prize-winning piece “Like Ants” at the Canon’sNew Cosmos of Photography 2019, as well as works from the subsequent solo exhibition “Ants” the following year.
Dates: April 7th (Thursday) to April 21st (Thursday), 2022
Last year, I started creating this series of photographs, spurred by my hospitalization. Half of them were taken with a smartphone (Android). After participating in the Canon’sNew Cosmos of Photography 2019, this is my first entry into a photography competition in a while. I am honored to have been selected as one of the 25 finalists from 150 countries worldwide in the series photography category of the LensCulture Art Photography Awards, considered one of the most prestigious awards in contemporary photography art. From these finalists, I was chosen as a Jurors’ Pick. The juror for this category was ANNA DANNEMANN from The Photographers’ Gallery in the UK. The title of my series is “A Home for the Hermit Crab.” Thank you very much for your support.
LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2022
Below is the evaluation by ANNA DANNEMANN.
ANNA DANNEMANN Senior Curator The Photographers’ Gallery United Kingdom
Tomomichi Nakamura’s endearing images subtly address the important issue of mental health and the isolating experience of being institutionalized and separated from society. Nakamura creates powerful images between reality and fiction, introspection and shared moments such as everyday tasks. His interventions in the images allow for a different perspective and insights into other ways of life – A Home for the Hermit Crab is on the whole an outstanding and accomplished project.
“Recently, the film ‘Ants’ has been nominated in the ‘New Stories’ category at FIDBA – Buenos Aires International Documentary Film Festival, the largest documentary film festival in Ibero-America. The winners will be determined through international competition in the future. This marks Tomomichi Nakamura’s debut submission to a documentary film festival.”
This work is organized by photos and films illuminates intimate relationships and others in my everyday lives. It attempts to depict the deep empathy of human world by contrasting world of ants and ours. There are multiple perspectives to enter and feel the world of “Ants”. One of them is myself “Tomomichi”, and other one is my partner “Shiho”. They are expressed with fragments of each of their lifetimes of which are connected to the third perspective “All”. “All” implies all others including viewers. By feeling the connection between intimate world and Others, we would be able to reimagine connections among the fragments of lifetimes of all beings. In this way, we would be able to regain imagination about human’s connections with ants. We are like ants, and ants are like us.
“In an era where anyone could become an exclusionist, let’s expel the ‘idiots’ within us through ‘rap’ thinking.
Tomomichi Nakamura contributed photographs to the writing by sociologist Kohei Kawabata titled ‘Exclusionism and Zainichi Koreans: Before Calling Each Other “Idiots”‘ (published by Kohyo Shobo). Nakamura took the cover photo and photos inside.”
Last year, Tomomichi Nakamura won the Grand Prize at the Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2019. As a result, we will host the Grand Prize solo exhibition at the Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2020.
Venue: TOKYO PHOTOGRAPHIC ART MUSEUM Dates: October 17th to November 15th, 2020 Closed on Mondays
This year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, production became very challenging. However, the work was successfully completed after altering the plan.
The title of the work is “Ants”.
Artwork originates from the creator’s subjectivity, but how does that subjectivity appear to others involved in this world?
The work was created from the perspective of seeing oneself as an ant, being observed as one watches ants, and being viewed by an overwhelming force against which one cannot fight. It expresses using ants, which, like humans, have a social nature.
However, are they truly insignificant beings? While one’s existence may be small, that smallness varies depending on the unit of society.
Tomomichi Nakamura won the Second Prize at the Okayama Arts and Culture Award.
Tomomichi Nakamura was awarded the Second Prize at the Okayama Arts and Culture Award for his achievement in winning the Grand Prize at the Canon’s New Cosmos of Photography 2019.
Hi, this is Tomomichi Nakamura from Tokyo. I am very happy and honor to inform you that I have awarded the Grand Prize at the 2019 New Cosmos of Photography.
In particular, I would like to express my deep gratidue to the staff members of Canon, judeges, and friends who sincerely supported me on this occasion.
This work was secretly produced with the help of a few collaborators in the hours I was able to move, after being discharged from the hospital last year.
First, I would like to thank my collaborators: Shiho Tsukikage, Kouhei Kawabata, and Michiko Kawabata. I am delighted to have been able to reciprocate their kindness with the results of our project.
One of the most significant rewards of winning the Grand Prix is the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography during the Photography New Century 2020 next year. I am committed to continuing my efforts, including preparing for this upcoming exhibition.
Thank you very much.
Tomomichi Nakamura
PS: This award for my work was the result of strong encouragement from Rineke Dijkstra and Paul Graham.
