Yasumichi Morita (1967 - ), an osaka-born designer active in Tokyo, has expended his interior design work across Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris, Doha, and other major cities. Since 1987 until now, Morita is renowned for his modern yet sophisticated design that accommodates to different culture across the eastern and western world. He started photography since his 20s, the same year when he started his career as an interior designer. In order to capture the black and white world that cannot be seen by naked eye, he chose for monochrome photography, in search of the world created by light and shadow. Partly influenced by his architectural designer DNA, Morita is sensitive to mathematics and proportion in looking at space, and by carving light and shadow, he create an aesthetic that often make viewers project imagination that not necessary link to the ordinary perception to the subject. This sense of unfamiliarity, questioning and the revelation of reality is found in Yasumichi Morita’s works, whose sense of surrealism is specially achieved by utilizing photography as an approach to questioning the real world taken from the lens.

If we are allured to imagination, we should first question the reality. Viktor Shklovsky once stated, everyday life consumed by habit is akin to lifelessness. The purpose of art is not merely to help us recognize something, but to make us truly feel it. The profound aesthetic vision of Yasumichi Morita captures the tumultuous emotions hidden beneath serene, dark tones through his lens, exploring the wonders of existence within the shadows of these spaces that evoke the human experience.

In the eyes of the philosopher Bergson, the senses evoke subtle feelings as the human body, exposed nakedly to the cosmos. These layers of interwoven colors, sounds, scents, and tactile sensations flourish as the five senses awaken, resembling ever-changing illusions. Born from nothingness, they, in turn, shape the vast universe we perceive—a wondrous realm filled with dancing light and shadow. Sensation opens up various dimensions of perception—not only color, sound, scent, and touch but also bodily movements such as walking, sitting, exercising, sleeping, lying down, pulling, pressing, supporting, or embracing—all of which unfold into endless, continuous spaces. For cinematic poets like Tarkovsky and Ozu Yasujiro, film is akin to the dynamic sculpting of time’s light. Similarly, for the architectural designer Yasumichi Morita, his photography profoundly engages with the tactile shaping of spatial shadows.

In Yasumichi Morita artistic pursuits, Yasumichi Morita intentionally employs subtle light and profound darkness to evoke a deep sense of stillness, as if he is delving into the soul to engage in a dialogue with humanity. His portrayal of the world unfolds in fleeting yet impactful scenes, where, within an expansive and solemn dimension, he gazes directly into the warmth and void of human nature. The essence of his creations lies in sculpting the flow of life, akin to Tarkovsky's perspective on art: distilling the temporal and societal aspects of humanity while exploring fundamental themes such as faith, morality, desire, redemption, regret, and sacrifice.