Postcard: Shizuka Yokomizo

"Shizuka Yokomizo, Japanese by birth, photographer by choice, has been living in London for more than 15 years."

Yokomizo is most famous for her 'Dear Stranger' project, where she wrote a letter to strangers in her area, asking to take a picture of them through their window. "The amazing Shizuka Yokomizo’s photo project, came from running around London with a huge telephoto lens, trying to glimpse unsuspecting people through the windows of their flats. Being absurd and frustrating by the one-sidedness of the activity, aside from the ethics aspect, she soon realized it was important for her to have eye contact while photographing. She needed the people to look back and recognize her equally as a stranger. So she decided to use the format of a simple anonymous letter, which contained the possibility of agreement.The effect was that when Yokomizo sent her subjects the letters, they started agreeing and stand in the front window of their home at a specified date and time.She started being welcomed. She would then arrive, set up her tripod and camera, exposed her film, and then leave."

This is the letter that Shizuka Yokomizo sent to the strangers: "Dear Stranger, I am an artist working on a photographic project which involves people I do not know…I would like to take a photograph of you standing in your front room from the street in the evening. A camera will be set outside the window on the street. If you do not mind being photographed, please stand in the room and look into the camera through the window for 10 minutes on __-__-__ (date and time)…I will take your picture and then leave…we will remain strangers to each other…If you do not want to get involved, please simply draw your curtains to show your refusal…I really hope to see you from the window."

Mood Board from Yokomizo's 'Dear Stranger' project

Image Analysis for Shizuka Yokomizo

The image above is taken through the window of a front room. Situated by the door, a man is stood looking at the camera in his underwear and a hoodie, talking on the phone. This could suggest that people are more comfortable expressing things to someone if they do not personally know them like, in this case, the photographer Shizuka Yokomizo. This could be because the photographer does not hold any pre-judgement of the subject. In the book 'The Psychology of Prejudice', Ashmore & Del Boca described prejudice as being "a set of beliefs that is incorrectly learned, over generalised, factually incorrect, or rigid". But since the photographer does know the subject, this aspect can be excluded and each subject's confidentiality can be kept by the photographer. In terms of the technicality of the actual photograph, there is a relatively high contrast between the dark and the light colours in the image. Although the red-ish colour of the wallpaper could be seen as fairly pastel, plain and bland, it works well with the colours of the clothes that the subject is wearing. The dark brown window frame acts like a top layer of the image and causes very strong leading lines, splitting the image into six rectangular sections.

My Response
This is the letter template that I sent to people in my area: "Dear Stranger, I am a college student, currently pursuing an A level photography course. For my exam, I am looking to document changes/habits that defines someone, and affects their life. I have chosen you because I do not know you, and therefore will not have any prejudice or pre-judgement against you. A camera will be set outside your house on __/__/__ at __:__. If you do not mind being photographed, please stand at the window in your front room, for 5 minutes, holding/doing something that has had an impact on your life. I will take a photograph, and I will leave. The photographs will be used only for my exam piece. If you do not want to be photographed, simply close your curtains to show your refusal, and no photographs will be taken. I hope to see you at that window, The Photographer."