Series description
Shinya Masuda takes a series of ‘ultimate questions’ as the starting point for his series: ‘Why are we born into this world, and where do we go after we die? What is the purpose of our existence? How did the universe begin? What is God? What is Buddha? What is the Creator? What is love? And what is wealth?’ In this series, the photographer looks at words left behind by his predecessors as codes to be solved using physics and other sciences. ‘This is the beginning of a journey to hone the power of observation and explore the ‘laws of the universe’,’ he says. The photographer has offered a series of speculations for each image in the series that can be found in the image descriptions.
Biography
Shinya Masuda (born in Nagoya in 1965) is a contemporary artist and photographer who connects the material world and the spiritual world through his work. After switching from being a French chef to a photographer, he studied under the still life photographer Hashi. In 2017, he won the runner-up prize in the Still Life category of the Sony World Photography Awards PRO. His work has been published in major publications, and through his art, he encourages deep philosophical reflection.
Hojo Zanmai
‘The Buddhist saying ‘Nothing is everything’ means that when you can observe and understand the fluctuations of the mind, you will know infinite possibilities. I think that if you replace what has been confirmed by science with the mind, you will deepen your understanding.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Hyonenzu
‘The ability to observe something that cannot be seen is called ‘Kanjizairyoku’ in Buddhist terminology. The story of consciousness leads from the world that can be seen to the world that cannot be seen. Once again, it is a story that is completely elusive.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Night Flight 1
‘Ancient Buddhist scriptures begin with the word ‘Aun’. Many interpret this as a sound. Sound, or frequency, is the source of creation, including light. Everything in the three-dimensional world has its own vibration frequency. If you look at other scriptures and holy books, you will find that they all begin with words that have a similar effect.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Shikisokuzeku Kusokuzesiki
‘There are two Buddhist terms, ‘shiki-soku-zoku’ and ‘kū-soku-zoku’, which say: ‘All matter in this world is a vacuum, which is also a spirit (frequency) and energy; and all spirit (frequency) and energy that is a vacuum is also matter.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Singularity
‘In the Buddhist scriptures, it is said of this three-dimensional world: ‘It is neither born nor does it die, it does not change, it is not complete. It is neither true nor false, it is neither existent nor non-existent, it is neither this nor that, it is neither false nor true, it is neither this nor that’.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
A Vacuum Event
‘In this universe, phenomena in the natural world are caused by a chain reaction in the order of sound (frequency), magnetism and electricity.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Night flight 2
‘Biology is also based on mathematical formulas. Once a position is determined, a viewpoint is born. You can become the viewpoint of a frog, a butterfly or a moth. Of course, you can also become the viewpoint that looks over the whole. From the moment observation begins, it becomes a grain, and an infinite creative universe expands. This is the same for you and me.’
© Shinya Masuda, Japan National Award, Shortlist, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards