Thirty years ago Tadayuki Naitoh, known for his photographs of Miles Davis, released a cherry blossom series, of which this work is known as the “spider.” A cherry tree was shot on negative film, the negative and positive reversed and the photo hand-printed on photographic paper: an entirely analog process. The prints are arranged in kaleidoscope fashion on a silver foil base, and stuck onto a kimono (ie T) shape. Seem from a distance, a spider-like pattern emerges in the branches. According to Naitoh, “This was my take on the bewitching, fantastical worldview of cherry trees in the novels of Ango Sakaguchi.”
About Tadayuki NaitohNAITO Tadayuki was born in Asakusa, Tokyo, in 1941.
In 1964, he graduated from the photography department of Tokyo Designer's College,
moved to New York by himself, and started shooting jazz musicians.
From meeting Miles Davis, He refined his expression.
In 1974, he began to concentrate on jazz and actively took pictures of Africa.
Since the latter half of 1980, he has returned to Japanese culture,
taking photographs of 'cherry blossoms' 'garden' 'lotus' and so on,
and creating Naito's own world.
In 2005, he was selected as one of 12 photographers
for "Modern Masters of Photographers/Japan" as part of the Swaminathan Foundation.