Osamu Wataya is a photographer, but only in the dictionary sense of the word. Most artistic photographers use their subjects to make a work of art, "I want to be able to serve my subjects," he says, "I want my subjects to be able to use me." When the shutter snaps, he isn't so much freezing a moment in time, as he is giving it reason to exist, "I don't believe in photography for photography's sake, but for the potential of an image, the potential of photography."
His images thus raise questions about life and social issues, but only as much as each individual viewer allows. To do more would violate his personal philosophy. For his series "Juvenile," he spent three summers with a group of Chechen children he befriended in the Ukraine, "Nothing would change if I did something that hurt or betrayed these children. A good photograph would not come out of that." In other words Wataya puts image philosophy before all else, and as a result his pictures are stunning.
Wataya's latest series of images, "Icon," was inspired by his experience with "Juvenile."