The soul of Haruhisa Camera
In this article, I will continue the story about Haruhisa Camera. This time, we talked with Elena Novikova (Lena Nova) about the most important part of this device, about the plates.
Master Haruhisa Terasaki calls them the "soul of the camera". It is thanks to these plates photographs get that unique pattern, texture that makes them look like paintings.
As master Haruhisa Terasaki explained, the plate is a screen on which the image of the subject is projected by the optics of the device. Thus, the camera does not capture the object itself, but its projection on the screen of Haruhisa Camera.
Each plate has its own individual properties, and conveys this individuality to the photo. The basis of the plate is made up of inclusions of spots and scratches. Each has its own, special pattern or shade of color. There are plates that have a pronounced pattern, texture, and there are others that differ only in nuances. In addition, their pattern may vary depending on the amount and angle of incidence of light. At different angles of refraction of light falling on the glass of the plate, the lines of scratches are either emphasized or erased, becoming more blurred, changing the texture of the image. Some plates work well in the ISO range from 1600 to 16000, and some draw beautifully at ISO 100.
Listening to Elena's story, I noted that a set of several such plates opens up a huge field for creativity and experimentation.
"The field is endless! Not for one life!" - so Elena commented on my remark.
In order to realize the scale of opportunities that these plates provide to the photographer, I imagined working in a studio, if I were shooting with a conventional camera, say, a still life, or a portrait, when the exposure depends on the amount of light, and the light-shadow pattern depends on the angle of incidence. And now imagine adding to that the ability to change the pattern of the texture, which entails changing the whole atmosphere of the image, which can affect the feel and meaning.
I think the vast majority of people who read this article, or learn about Haruhisa Terasaki and his invention from other sources, will definitely want to get his camera, try shooting with it.
But Haruhisa Camera cannot be bought in a store, and it is very difficult to be among the lucky ones to whom the master can give this camera as a gift. You already know about Haruhisa Terasaki's approach to this issue, and for those who don't know yet, I'll attach a link to the first article at the end of this one.
And no matter what we think about the motives of Haruhisa Terasaki, about why he is so reverent of his invention, I am sure that his philosophy is much deeper than it might seem at first glance.
He's not protecting his camera. Otherwise, no one would have received it at all. He teaches us to respect art.
Indeed, remember how people treat food in times of famine and in times of abundance. It's the same with art. Only what is scarce is valued, exclusive things are valued.
In the modern world, we are taught that we can easily and simply get everything we want, consumers are brought up in us. Lately, we don't even have to look for what we want. The Internet, social networks will instantly offer it to us. This has led to the fact that humanity has become lazy to an incredible degree. We have forgotten how to create. But where there is no creation, there is destruction.
Today everyone has a camera, it is in our pocket, in our mobile phone. Every second, tens of thousands of images are uploaded to the Internet. Instagram alone uploads over 100 000 000 photos a day. 100 000 000 photos that are not much different from one another.
The situation is similar in the cinema. Today it is a conveyor where the same plots are churned out, and besides, they are not new ones, but built on the foundation of past achievements of cinema.
There is no point in continuing this list. I think my idea is clear.
Therefore, the invention of Haruhisa Terasaki and his attitude to his camera is an example of the fact that even under the most unfavorable conditions, you can find something new, your own, something that will set us apart from the general flow. If you like, this is a call, or even a challenge, to all creative people to cast aside laziness and illusions, and start creating art, and not producing clichés. And Haruhisa Camera won't help. If mass production of this camera started tomorrow, then in a year we would get a million pictures that would not differ much from each other and, as a result, would lose interest in this device.
I want to emphasize that the true motives and philosophy of Master Terasaki are unknown to me. I just stated my understanding of them. But inwardly I am convinced that I am not mistaken.
In conclusion, I want to thank Elena Novikova for her interesting story, which introduced us to the Haruhisa Camera, and the master Haruhisa Terasaki for his comments, which helped to understand the principle of the device, and to prepare the material for this article.
Read the first article about the Haruhisa Camera here: #haruhisacamera