INFRARED JAPAN

infrared Canon Photography japan Nature architecture Travel photojournalism digital

01. Kobe Falls 02. Nara Park 03. Takayama Government House

JAPANESE CULTURE, ARCHITECTURE & NATURE

In the eyes of an Infrared Photographer

In my world everything is infrared, or at least in my dreams, everything would be.

When I was 18 I discovered the work of Richard Mosse and have been fascinated by Infrared photography since. The depth of landscapes, emotion in nature and beauty in the ordinary is something that has made me fall deeply in love with this medium. Ever since, I have been experimenting with Infrared photography in many forms. Through my work as a product designer and freelance photographer, I have been lucky enough to travel the world. During a recent personal trip to Japan, I decided to push myself and try to take enough infrared photos for my first solo photography exhibition.

For anyone who is not familiar with infrared photography, and specifically the work of Richard Mosse, Infrared photography channels out visible spectrums of light and only allows invisible infrared light to be captured. The most incredible thing about infrared photography is that any plants that have chlorophyll and conduct Photosynthesis (Such as grass, leaves and trees) strongly reflect this invisible infrared light. Green plants turn into a magnificent pinky purple.

To simplify this further, plants with green hues turn a beautiful pinky-purple, while other colours remain constant.

In my own work, I use both digital conversion layers (Thanks to the modern wonders of Photoshop) and a special Infrared filter on my digital camera lenses.

I started experimenting with infrared photography 3 years ago, while I was travelling through South America, ever since, the majority of my work is in infrared.

With this project in Japan, I wanted to capture photographs that showed a different side of Japan. I didn’t just want to photograph traditional Japanese houses, or Japanese forests, but also the mountains, contemporary architecture and magnificent landscapes that don’t instantly come to mind when one thinks of Japan.

INSTAGRAM

WWW.SEBASTIAN-DAMM.COM

Kitaro Nishida Memorial Museum of Philosophy Designed by Tadao Ando, Kanazawa, Japan

Forest exploration, Kanazawa, Japan

Ayatorihashi Bridge, Yamanaka, Japan

Yamanaka, Japan

Kitaro Nishida Memorial Museum of Philosophy Designed by Tadao Ando, Kanazawa, Japan

Takayama Streets

Takayama Jinya, Takayama

Mt Fuji, Japan

Mt Fuji Descent, Japan

Teshima Art Island, Japan

Kyoto Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Kobe Falls, Kobe, Japan

Arashiyama Forest, Kyoto, Japan

Nara Deer Park, Nara, Japan

Kobe Falls, Kobe, Japan

"I fell in the mud trying to take these photos."

Arayashima, Japan

Nara Deer Park, Nara, Japan

Kanazawa, Japan

21st Century Museum Designed by Tadao Ando, Kanazawa Japan

Nara Deer Park, Japan

SEBASTIAN DAMM:

Sebastian Damm is an emerging industrial designer, photographer and concept artist from Melbourne. Sebastian's designs focus around low-volume, high-quality and high-value Australian production. Utilising Australian materials his furniture and lighting range aim to promote Australian design, manufacturing and its local materials. Sebastian is also a keen photographer whose photographic journeys have taken him across the world. Since 2014 Sebastian has been experimenting with Infrared photography.

In 2014 Sebastian worked with world-renowned fashion designer Sruli Recht. Sebastian assisted Sruli Recht in working on a range of products and art installations. During this placement, Sebastian also worked with Sruli in developing the vastly successful Norlan Whisky Glass, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter in December 2015.