Transforming Vintage Photographs into Captivating Surreal Images: An Artist's Skillful Kiss
Kensuke Koike, a talented Japanese artist, ingeniously repurposes vintage studio portraits by meticulously cutting and transforming them into mind-bending artworks, offering a unique and thought-provoking perspective
In Snap, we explore the impact of a single photograph, sharing stories of how contemporary and historical images have been created.
Japanese artist Kensuke Koike approaches each photograph as a challenging puzzle. Koike acquires vintage portraits from thrift stores and flea markets, many of which he purchases in and around Venice, where he currently resides. He meticulously uses a small blade to cut and rearrange the elements of the photographs, resulting in playful and often surreal outcomes. For example, a person's head might be removed and placed next to them, or their features might be distorted or rearranged. Faces transform into diamond patterns, spirals, or portals; couples gazing at each other swap their eyes. Koike strictly follows the rule of "no more, no less," meaning he must use all parts of the original image and cannot add anything new, as he explained.
Koike's formal studio pictures and postcards often feature glossy romantic portraits of anonymous couples. During an artist residency in Naples, he discovered a postcard with a reclining woman with 1920s finger waves looking up amorously at her partner. In one of his pieces, titled "Say Cheese," Koike cut a single panel stretching from mouth to mouth and flipped it to create a different dynamic. He turned the woman's sultry, parted mouth into a goofy grin on the man's face, and his previously downturned lips become her own small, knowing smile. Koike explained to CNN that he simply wanted to bring levity to these "serious expressions."
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"Say Cheese," from 2020.
Kensuke Koike
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"Little by Little," from 2023.
Kensuke Koike
The adjustment to the image may seem simple, but it actually involves an intricate process. Koike spends weeks making over 100 variations of the photograph before selecting the final direction.
"I only have one opportunity to cut the original photo. So I always conduct numerous tests before making the cut," he explained. "Everything needs to be perfect. Sometimes it's just cutting one line, but for me, it's a very emotional process."
This unflattering depiction of femininity has been impactful for forty years.
In previous iterations of "Say Cheese," Koike experimented with swapping the faces or body parts of the couples, but ultimately focused on that one, small detail, a process he showcased in a well-received Instagram video. Rose Shoshana and Jaushua Rombaoa, who oversee the Rosegallery in Santa Monica, California, currently featuring a collection of Koike's work in the group exhibition "Fragmented Lucidity," shared with CNN that Koike is adept at altering perspectives through his modifications.
"He takes the stylized and prototypical image of romance and passion, stripping away its romanticization and sentimentality, subverting it into a jestful and whimsical play on human connection," they wrote in an email. "Kensuke's world is one that is similar, yet adjacent, to ours, unexpected and lively, blurring the lines between reality and imagination."
As he repeatedly works on an image, Koike said he finds himself creating stories about the lives of the people in the portraits, though he keeps those musings private. He treasures them, as photos of unknown sitters are often not highly valued by vintage image collectors, and their identities are lost in estate sales and resales. He doesn't want the photographs to "disappear," so he gives them another life in his studio.
After visiting the same thrift shops for several months, the owners noticed Koike's interest and started contacting him to offer their collections of vintage images. Despite only working with about 10 photographs annually, he now owns roughly 50,000. He chuckles at the sheer number he's amassed. "I just couldn't resist," he admitted.
