I first became acquainted with Japanese photographer Masao Yamamoto's images over a year ago and his work has been growing on me ever since. Minimal yet never boring or empty, his pictures have just the right amount of material to get my imagination going. I love their simplicity and dreamy quality, that I find lacking in many of the contemporary works I see.

With a background in oil painting, he manipulates his prints using paints, dyes, tones (like tea), as well as rubbing and tearing to age them prematurely - making each one a unique object. He describes his images as physical memories and as such focuses on very small prints that can be carried around and held in the palm of the hand. He also organizes them in stories/installations that bring new meanings through subtle interactions. While I think it is an interesting concept and even though I like the images very much, I have to say that I am not a fan of small prints - I can't help but feeling it partly removes the images from the emotional impact they truely deserve.

You can hear the artist describe his work here.