Edition Details
This is a c-print on Fuji crystal semi-matte paper. Edition sizes are as follows;
11" x 14" - 300 editions at $90.00 each.
16" x 20" - 50 editions at $250.00 each.
24" x 30" - 20 editions at $900.00 each.
30" x 40" - 2 editions at $2000.00 each.
All images come with a numbered certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. Please note that sizes quoted are for the size of the paper, not the image. We do not alter the aspect ratio or edit the artist's original image. All images have a minimum .5 inch white border.
Artist Statement
HAIKYO is the Japanese word for “ruins” - but not in the ancient sense. It refers specifically to abandoned modern buildings. It also refers to a practice of urban exploration that has become incredibly popular in Japan, complete with countless websites and even tourist-style guidebooks. This project is a document in two senses. Firstly, it documents the derelict abandoned buildings of the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, highlighting their transient status with the remnants of both official and illicit activity that has taken place since they closed their doors years ago. Secondly, it is also a far more personal document of my individual experience entering these buildings, exploring them and capturing what I saw on film. Either way the viewer looks at it, they are presented with a group of photos carefully executed to be experiential. For me, this piece is equal parts action and discussion. On the one hand, it is about exploration, ruins and the emotional effect of architecture. On the other, it is also about marginalized people and places and our coexisting attraction to and repulsion from them.
NICO OVED is a documentary photographer interested in constructed spaces and how they reflect the realities of the people who inhabit them. This interest has brought him and his large format camera to far-flung locations ranging from the austere banlieues of Paris to the dynamic hillside favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Though people rarely appear in his photographs, i is in fact the narrative of marginalized communities that ultimately drive his work – for him, their everyday reality is far more compelling than our own. After studying Sociology and Fine Arts in Montréal, Toronto and San Francisco, he taught himself Portuguese and escaped to São Paulo, Brazil where he worked in photography and journalism for pennies, but was nevertheless inexplicably content. Nico strongly believes that photography is first and foremost a communications medium and that its value as a impartial document is still very much relevant and alive. He's not particularly fond of the word photojournalism; he prefers documentary. He is currently working on an exhibition about irregular residences in Brazil and an accompanying self-published book.
