I’ve always believed that what we see is a
tiny fraction of what’s there.
I think it comes from that early reli-
gious upbringing I mentioned. The light
on the altar represented a presence that
was invisible but which I believed in.
I find that I’m still interested in the
suggestion of what could be, rather
than what’s actually visible to our eyes.
I began to work at night in the mid-’70s,
and I suppose this was the start of my
fascination with long exposures. Photo-
graphing at night was exciting because it
was unpredictable. I didn’t immediately
have control over exposures, and it was
a surprise to see the results every time I
processed the film.
During time-exposures, the world
changes—stars trace through the sky
as our planet moves, planes, boats, cars
leave behind their own white lines
on the negative, clouds will slowly
add density to specific areas of the
frame. This accumulation of light,
time and movement—impossible for
the human eye to take in—can be
recorded on film.
Real becomes surreal, which isendlessly fascinating to me.What equipment are you work-
ing with?
My usual analog setup is pretty basic:
Two Hasselblad 500C/M camera bod-
ies, a metered pentaprism and a waist-
level viewfinder, two film backs (for
100 ISO and 400 ISO film), five lenses
ranging from a 40mm to a 250mm, a
Gossen Luna-Pro meter, which I use
chiefly for night exposures, a lightweight
graphite tripod with a ball socket head,
some red and neutral-gray density filters,Shosanbetsu, Hokkaido, Japan 2014.24 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com