Statement

Reborn captures a fleeting moment that emerged by chance from the cyclical flow of life energy,unfolding a visual exploration of the fundamental questions that lie between life and creation.
 
The photograph was taken from above a wetland that stretches within a volcanic crater in Yamagata Prefecture,formed by an eruption that occurred tens of thousands of years ago.
Located in a region of heavy snowfall, the surface of the water accumulates snow,which gradually becomes the nucleus through which water transforms into ice.As snow mingles with water and temperatures fall, the water freezes;when touched again by sunlight, it melts back into liquid form.
Throughout this perpetual cycle, delicate patterns quietly emerge upon the surface.
 
These formations are in constant flux—shaped by subtle shifts in temperature,the amount of snowfall, the movement of wind, the heat emitted by wetland vegetation,and even the minute currents that ripple beneath the surface.
Such a confluence of countless contingencies gives rise to spontaneous phenomena,in which light and shadow intertwine, symbolizing the existential duality of life, death, and rebirth,quietly emerging as a metaphor for the eternal cycle of reincarnation.
 
For Kazuaki Koseki, these unpredictable and self-renewing natural phenomena evoke the very moment when a living being is reborn.
 
 
Part of the photographic quartet “The Cycle of Being”.
→ Artist’s Statement / Philosophy