Bob walked briskly down the busy sidewalk; sadness was etched all over his face. “Hey you,” he said with a firm tone, when he finally stood in front of her. With gentleness, he put his arms around Charlotte and pulled her close. Bob gently stroked her hair, and while she looked over his shoulder, a tear coursed down her cheek. He whispered in her ear something inaudible. “Okay?,” he asked. “Okay,” she answered before giving in to a kiss. Our hearts stopped and something inside of us broke. Lost In Translation touched a very sensitive fiber of our hearts. Sometimes love cannot win every battle.
“Being in a crowded city like Tokyo can’t save us from feeling lonely.”
Just like Charlotte’s character, who felt lost and yearned for an embrace, any person could become an emotional wanderer too. Tokyo, Japan prevails as one of the most crowded cities in the world. On its streets and avenues, thousands people are absorbed by their own thoughts, oblivious of others’ problems. How is one bound to survive in a city where its inhabitants whiz by, leaving us with feelings of loneliness and doubt?
Waves of people come and go, and the noise from moving cars and trucks prevents us from hearing our thoughts. Despite the multitude, being in a crowded city like Tokyo can’t save us from feeling lonely. This fast-paced life entraps us in a world of solitude and confusion.
“People who live there have a unique loneliness.
But they are always hidden in the congestion of the city.
I have attempted to express the loneliness in the artificial and simple composition.”— Matsumoto
Hiroharu Matsumoto is a photographer aware of this situation, and for a very long time he has trained his lens to find those corners and squares that highlight this aching loneliness and melancholy of the people who walk down them. He is highly skilled at making portraits of these anonymous urban pedestrians.
His is not a flâneur photographer —professional wanderers who takes pictures of countless locations—; he is an historian who wishes to capture people’s deepest thoughts and emotions.
“People who live there have a unique loneliness.
But they are always hidden in the congestion of the city.
I have attempted to express the loneliness in the artificial and simple composition,”Matsumoto explains.
Matsumoto establishes a dialogue between light and shadows. The composition of his photographs reveals the complex interaction between man and the urban space and how loneliness can prevail even if you are surrounded by people.
“Walking down the streets after a stressful day at the office, waiting for the lights to turn green, Hiroharu Matsumoto is the artist who captures these moments.”
Matsumoto’s photography combines peace, silence, and strong architectural scenarios. The urban geometry of every shot fuses with the organic subject, telling a story of desolation. The viewers know they are watching a moment frozen in time; however, in every picture they can feel the movement of the subjects.
Walking down the streets after a stressful day at the office, waiting for the lights to turn green on the same corner where you got your heart broken; running down the sidewalk to meet your date, or simply standing in the loneliness of a cold dusk, Hiroharu Matsumoto is the artist who captures us all in those moments and with Tokyo’s architecture on the background.
Isolation does not fear the cold geometry of urban development. In the chaos of the city and the swarm of crowds, a single person can feel infinitesimally lonely.
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All photos are credited to Hiroharu Matsumoto. If you wish to learn more about his work you, can check out his site
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