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Compositions of Daily Life

Written by YOKO

Released May 2020

To document this unprecedented time of isolation and confinement, we have teamed up with Romain Parize, a London based art director who captures subjects documenting moments in time; compositions that stand still momentarily.  These instances of weightlessness composed in daily life help to represent and reframe the new normal.

 

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Daily routines have shifted and will continue to shift.  Discovering that this point in time can be used to pause and reflect has brought gratitude for moments in each of our daily lives.  The light filled compositions of everyday objects or figures, not composed or purposefully placed, offer an insight into the beauty of everydayness.

 

Over the past few months we have found ourselves stopping at unscripted moments to notice the various transformations that are continually in motion.

 

Isolation is a term which for some is difficult to cope with, yet isolation in different forms can enact a mental state of positive retreat or solitude.  Right now, it is important as ever to find the freedom that exists within confinement.

 

This pause and reflect can almost be filmic in quality.  From the strong cup of coffee freshly brewed, to the person stopping to stand still for a split second with their eyes gently shut and head tilted towards the sun, or the slow soft breeze showing its lightness of touch through the most delicate of foliage - it may seem for an instant that nothing else exists.  Nothing else seems to move, time almost stands still; momentarily.

 

The compositions of daily life that have not been staged with force, do not shout or ask for acknowledgement, they merely linger waiting to be discovered.  They pause…and then fade.

 

Whether in Tokyo, London, Copenhagen, or elsewhere city or country - the ability to be solitary need not be a negative one.  The action of pause and reflect will unfold a new normal, one of silence hanging in the air, or subtle glimmers of hopefulness.  Moments that almost turn into slow motion like the whispering blossoms delicately descending from above, flickering in and out of frame.  Unscripted moments, without judgement or expectation reminds us of Night Walks by Charles Dickens, an act of discovery in the late night streetscape of daily life.

 

Allowing us to reframe our daily lives can help us to slow down, breathe and appreciate the world around us.

 

Walking out into the evening air, it feels easier to breathe.  There is now clarity in the air.  The blanket of darkness appears to have lifted.

 

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With thanks to Romain Parize for all photographs.  Follow him on Instagram @romain_parize

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