Jibun (自分) (jee-boon) is a Japanese word that translates as “self.” Yet its meaning extends beyond identity. It is less about who you are than about who you become when you are left alone.

This autobiographical project is an exploration of identity shaped by loss and the search for an inner light.

At first there was Hikarishi — the innocent light of childhood, casting a shadow without ever noticing it.

Then came Kagefumi — a children's game of stepping on shadows until, eventually, one's own shadow consumes everything.

Now everything has fallen into darkness, and I must either find that light again or learn how to see in the dark.


Chapter 1 – Hikarishi (光視)


Hikarishi (光視) (hee-kah-ree-shee) is an invented title inspired by the Japanese word hikari (光), meaning "light." Written with the kanji for light (光) and vision (視), it may be understood as "the gaze of light"—a way of seeing through light, or perhaps the light itself looking back at us.

This series remembers the light that once lived within us. Everyone could see it. Like a little firefly, you carried your own light, quietly illuminating the way for yourself and for those around you. It is a story about childhood—filled with trust, warmth, and a naïve belief in the world.

The light on a child's face is not only a symbol of inner radiance, but also a reference to a scientific fact: the human body really does emit light, although it is around a billion times too faint for the human eye to perceive. We literally glow—we simply cannot see it.

Through these photographs, I explore the invisible light we gradually lose as we grow older. But does it really have to become completely dark before we can shine again?


Chapter 2 — Kagefumi (影踏み)


Kagefumi (影踏み) (kah-geh-foo-mee) literally means "stepping on shadows." It is the name of a traditional Japanese game, but it can also be understood as a metaphor: chasing your own shadow, trying to catch up with the parts of yourself that have always remained just out of reach.

This series is about the attempt to step on one's own shadow. About confronting what has always been there, yet could never be fully grasped. It is a descent into inner darkness, where memory dissolves, faces lose their features, and reality fractures like glass.

This is not merely visual distortion, but a metaphor for inner transformation. Growing up becomes a process of breaking apart and reassembling oneself, where old ideals disappear and a new way of seeing the world begins to emerge through the cracks. Every photograph is a fragment of a former self that can no longer be restored as it once was. At the same time, each image is an act of resistance, a search, and a quiet hope of discovering a new form capable of enduring the darkness.

Kagefumi is like sinking to the very bottom in order to bring back your true self. It is a journey from light into shadow—and back again, no longer the same person. Not the one who once shone, but the one who learned to see in the dark.