for me An identity portrait is a creative or visual representation that transcends mere physical likeness to capture the multifaceted essence of a person’s selfhood. It weaves together personal experiences, cultural roots, social roles, and unspoken emotions, revealing the stories, contradictions, and connections that define identity—whether through art, literature, or everyday self-expression. Unlike conventional portraits, it prioritizes depth over surface, resisting reduction to labels and instead reflecting the unique interplay of what is visible, hidden, chosen, or inherited, while resonating with universal struggles of belonging and authenticity.

• Top-left: Individual Gaze in a Classical ContextThe photo features an elderly person with gray hair leaning on a traditional Chinese stone railing, with the eaves of classical architecture and modern passers-by in the background. The carved details of the railing (such as the patterns on the column tops) highlight the spatial attribute of a Chinese garden or historical block. The elderly person’s posture conveys a quiet observation of the surroundings, forming a “dialogue between the individual and the environment” in the classical scene and reflecting the humanistic warmth in the historical space.

• Top-right: A Daily Moment in a Street MarketIt focuses on a middle-aged man smoking near a commercial street, with bustling shops and crowds in the background. The man’s casual posture and the lively street scene behind him present a slice of ordinary urban life, showing the vitality and triviality of the city’s commercial area.

• Bottom-right: Labor and Urban MaintenanceA sanitation worker is cleaning the street by the water. The black-and-white tone emphasizes the labor scene. The worker’s professional clothing and cleaning tools highlight his identity as an urban service provider, and the act of cleaning reflects the daily maintenance of the city’s appearance.

• Bottom-left: Social Interaction in a Leisure SpaceSeveral elderly people gather and interact by the lake. The black-and-white color scheme gives a sense of tranquility. The scene by the water and the casual postures of the elderly show the leisure and social life of urban residents in public spaces, reflecting the relaxed side of city life.

Formal Language and Stylistic Features

Theme and Emotional Expression

The work focuses on a running girl, whose dynamic movement contrasts sharply with the blurred street background. This contrast highlights both the vivid vitality of childhood and the disorder and alienation of the urban environment. Moriyama elevates this ordinary street moment into a metaphor for urban survival: the girl’s run is both a release of youth and an implication of the anxiety and uncertainty in post-war Japanese society. This sense of contradiction is a microcosm of the themes of “desire and alienation” in his works.

Creative Concept and Cultural Context