Japanese photographer Sohei Nishino reconstructs unique ‘Diorama maps’ to reflect his own personal memory of traveling around each new city he visits. Each map consists of thousands of images, photographed and collaged by hand – Nishino spends months walking the city streets, taking black-and-white photographs with his 35 mm camera. From his hundreds of contact sheets he cuts out the photos – often as many as 10,000 – to create elaborate 3D collages.
Sohei Nishino offers a few words about the project and his photographic philosophy:
“The Diorama Map series, which is almost a bird's eye view of the city, is not a precise map but presents the key elements of the city in a form closer to my own memory and observation. I consider the act of traveling to each location and the experience of being there to be a search for my inner being.
Therefore, every single element amongst the enormous mounds of pieces reflects my own act of photographic creation itself. This act is supported by my underlining belief that rather than thinking about what I can do with photography, I take photographs in a quest to see what I can become through photography.”
Tokyo
London
Osaka
New York City
Visit Sohei Nishino’s website for more outstanding projects.