Captured from a ferry window, the pier and port are enveloped in a serene, warm-hearted glow. The sea glistens brightly from the sun reflecting off the surface. As the paper streamers unfurl, the students dockside bid farewell to the departing ship. Whichever photo you look at, the photographed image is flat, softened and brighter than what it actually seems to the naked eye in real life.
Though most of these works depict the everyday island life seen from a ferry window, for some reason, while looking at them, you find peace of mind and them the melancholy builds from within. As she herself explains it, Kazumi Nakai wants the viewer to feel what she felt in the instant she snapped each of these pictures.

I tried asking Nakai why she photographs ferries that cruise the islands.
She replied, “Islands have a friendly aura all their own. The locals are super-kind, but they aren’t pushy and don’t get up in your face. The way they approach you is so natural, it stirs feelings of melancholy. I get the same impression from the things I see from the ferry window. For example, you occasionally see people waving to the ferry from shore. I realize that they are not waving at me, but it’s easy to think they are friendly. It makes me think about my grandmother and friends who live far away. So, I put those unexpected feelings into my work. And, I’d like the viewer to open up his/her past in front of my work and remember someone dear or those fond memories buried in the back of their minds.”

This is one exhibition where you can let your emotions and thoughts out with every work. Nothing would please photographer Kazumi Nakai more than if you would relive your most cherished memories in the gallery.