Compared to the subject he photograph, he is more aware of the relationship between him and the photography. Sometimes it is close, sometimes opposites.
Photography was born for the desire of “faithful record”. Rely on the eye of the reproducible mechanical apparatus, it is not only capturing faithfully, but from those photographs, also provides details and clues of the people who press the shutter. Like drawing circles on the surface of water, it always comes back to the certain point, but only wave of water. Photography acts as a mirror to reflect on his own. And the more he photograph, the more he found that it unreserved to show what he strives to hide.
Established and overturned constantly, rebuilt after destruction. He is more and more refused to follow his reason, and slowly, it became a war in his mind. Over this repeated establishment and devastation, he constantly looks back to the overall meaning. In this process, in every step to destroy some of the details that have been build, and manage to find a balance over the imbalance, to get a bigger release.
The origin of the name 「N.O.A.H」 was actually a graffiti, which located in the lane that he passes by every day in Baltimore. But it was covered by other graffiti before he moved to New York City. In a long time he interested in the traces of human existence, someone he knows or someone he doesn’t know, and what they left behind.
He loves the way to describe the ‘world’ with the word ‘人間 ‘ in Chinese and deeply attracted by its metaphorical sense. ‘人間 ‘ means ‘The space of human existence’ in a very literal translation.
It fully expressed the impermanence- the happiness, the sadness, the wrath, the greatness, and the tragedy. All of these comings and goings, life, and death are all happening on this earth. There is a movie line from Shunji Iwai’s film 「Swallowtail Butterfly」 always stuck in his mind when he watches this film in 15 years old. It says:
There is a heaven, but nobody ever gets there. You die, and your spirit flies to the sky. But as soon as it touches the cloud, it turns into rain. So nobodies ever seen heaven… So… if people end up in heaven, then I guess here is heaven. It always aroused in his mind when he does photograph in this project, and it becomes the main idea of his photography. It would be a lifelong project. And the way he chooses to photograph the traces of human existence, meanwhile it will be the evidence of his existence.
About Tao Ho
Tao Ho is a photographer and musician originally from Canton, China. After he finished his BFA degree of Traditional Chinese Painting in 2010, he switched his direction to photography. He received his MFA degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016. He is currently living and working in New York. His work is primarily analog photography and darkroom related video, and he also composes music and sound as his side projects as well. [Official Website]
