Born in Kumamoto, Japan, Yota Yoshida (b. 1981) is a self taught street photographer currently living and working in Tokyo.

Yoshida’s showcased series, from somewhere, to elsewhere is dedicated to “capturing what is already being expressed in the surroundings” but encourages viewers to deepen their gaze into the ordinary, to linger a moment longer in the contemporary urban landscape, so that we may contemplate the “poetical impression from the atmosphere.” Steeped in Buddhist philosophy, Yoshida is inspired by and speaks to the cyclical nature of the human experience. Yoshida’s photographs complement the complex connections between people and with objects, reflecting the ways in which we connect, intertwine, flux, dance, and diverge within the parameters of our boundless yet dual existence. Paul Gauguin, an influence on Yoshida’s project, informs this notion as inscribed in the painting, “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”

Yoshida’s photographs echo his relationship to the viewing process; marveling at the relationship between the artist, the subject and the subjective viewer, entangled in the notion that all ceases to exist beyond our respective time and space. Yoshida has a way of conveying his relationship with the viewer and the subject through time, as the viewer contemplates his or her own awareness and sense of “you”, “them”, and “me” interacting with the experience and the art at different moments.

For more of Yoshida’s work check out his website: http://www.yotayoshida.com/