Kagefumi (影踏み) literally means “step on the shadow”. This is a traditional Japanese game, but it can be interpreted as a metaphor — chasing one’s own shadow, trying to catch up with oneself.

This series is about trying to step on one’s own shadow. About fighting against what was elusive, but always there. It is a plunge into inner darkness, where memory is erased, faces lose their features, and reality cracks like glass.

This is not just a visual deformation — it is a metaphor for inner transformation. Growing up as a process of breaking and reassembling oneself: when old ideals disappear, and a new vision of the world sprouts through the cracks. Each image here is a fragment of the former “me” that can no longer be stitched together as it was. And at the same time, it is an act of resistance, search, hope to find a new form that will withstand the darkness.

Kagefumi is like sinking to the very bottom to pull out the real you. It is a journey from light to shadow and back, already a different person. Not the one who shone. But the one who learned to see in the dark.