With the advent of the digital camera, mobile phones and social networking, the world is now drowning in photographic imagery. This raises the question: Can photography survive as an art form in a world where it is ubiquitous?
The exhibition of work by Kayo Ume, under the title "Umekayo," at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery offers a partial response to this question, and suggests how photography-as-art might maintain a synergy or at least an uneasy alliance with photography-as-social-networking adjunct.
Rather than seeking to differentiate herself from the Instagram generation by developing technically difficult or artsy photography, Ume embraces the photography of the people, focusing on friends, family, and strangers encountered in everyday situations.