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Beside herself in time: Photographer's imaginary meetings with childhood self

Photographer Chino Otsuka inserts her adult self next to her child self in photos from the '70s and '80s in a thoughtful series called "Imagine Finding Me."

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
2 min read
 
Photographer Chino Otsuka went back in time and built a snowman with the kid version of herself from 1980 in Nagayama, Japan in her photo series "Imagine Finding Me."
Photographer Chino Otsuka went back in time and built a snowman with the kid version of herself from 1980 in Nagayama, Japan, in her photo series "Imagine Finding Me." Chino Otsuka

What if you could go back in time and hang out with yourself as a kid? Perhaps you both would race to the video game arcade and challenge yourself to a game of Ms. Pac-Man? Or maybe you would build a snowman together in a city park? Fight over a baguette? Take a leisurely stroll on the beach, hand in hand?

British-based photographer Chino Otsuka thought of just this as she placed her modern-day self in vintage childhood photos of herself as a child visiting multiple countries including Japan, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Spain.

In her photo series, "Imagine Finding Me," Otsuka digitally places herself in double self-portraits representing memorable moments in her childhood.

 
Photographer Chino Otsuka as her 2005 and 1982 self sharing a snack in Paris, France.
Photographer Chino Otsuka as her 2005 and 1982 self sharing a snack in Paris, France. Chino Otsuka

Whether she's wearing a kimono in Japan in 1979, having a snack in Paris in 1982, or peering out from a train in Spain in 1975, her current self stands close by in a meeting that never took place.

"A new journey has begun, on board a time machine built from digital tools," Otsuka wrote about "Imagine Finding Me" photo series in her book, "Photo Album." "I'm traveling back transported to places where I once belonged, cities where I once visited and on arrival I find myself from the past. Navigating through the labyrinth of memory I become a tourist of my own history. And throughout this unique journey I keep a diary."

 
Taking a stroll on the beach in Kamakura, Japan with her childhood self from 1976, artist Chino Otsuka uses her digital photography skills to time travel without a TARDIS.
Taking a stroll on the beach in Kamakura, Japan with her childhood self from 1976, artist Chino Otsuka uses her digital photography skills to time travel without a TARDIS. Chino Otsuka

Otsuka recently was a finalist for the AIMIA|AGO Photography Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, for her work.

(Via Daily Mail)