Lypophrenia

The Photo-Respiration series is Sato’s best known body of work consisting two sub-streams, Breathing Light and Breathing Shadows. In order to create these photographs, Sato uses his 8 x 10 camera and creates a long exposure, sometimes up to three hours. He subsequently physically enters the scene and moves throughout the landscape, pausing periodically.

In Breathing Shadows he flashes a light at the camera during night-time. In Breathing Light he uses a mirror to reflect sunlight back at the camera. The light is recorded as traces of his presence, but he himself is rendered invisible by his motion. The viewer infers the presence of a person from the signs he has left on the print.

The collection was published as a book by The Art Institute of Chicago in 2005.