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Mistubako (that means “wooden honey box” in Japanese in the traditional beekeeping) lives in Yokohama and writes poetry. Since 2000, she has been creating text and photographic works inspired by bees, including performances like poetry reading and storytelling. In 2006, she founded studio “Abejas e Colmenas” and has been collaborating with painters and architects. Now she is searching for the way to create unrepeatable poetry by mixing collected pollen, flower petals, seeds and words. Her dream in the future is to become a beekeeping poet. She tells us about her “Nostalagia Cyanogen” series , an awe-inspiring photographic collaboration with her grandfather Noritami Matsuo, who passed away when she was 2 years old. She combined her Polaroid pinhole pictures with the beautiful photographs her self-taught grandfather took in the early years of the 20th century.
Peut-Être : Hello Mistubako, do you remember when you discovered your grandfather was a photographer ? What do you know about him ? You told me he was not a professional photographer, even though his photos are amazingly beautiful. Mistubako : Yes, I remember very well. I was about 11 years old and my mother showed me her photo album, when I saw a photo of her with her mother it made me feel warm and tender, not because of the familial relationship, but a more universal feeling. I asked my mother some questions and she told me that my grandfather took that photo, and that he was an amateur photographer, and had won several photograph prizes. PE : What did your mother tell you about him ? M : She told me he was very interested in culture. He loved music, bonsai, collecting stones, reading Chinese poems and watching films. He always told my mother that women should be also educated and have their own profession. He had his own philosophy and did not believe what society would say at the time. PE : Does she remember how he got his camera and photographic material ? M : No. He already had his camera before my mother was born. She believes it was connected to my grandfather’s birthplace. He was born in Nagasaki, which had extensive trade relationships with European countries due to its location. This allowed him to see many foreign products. Interestingly, Hikoma Ueno, a pioneer Japanese photographer, was also born in Nagasaki. My grandfather’s camera was a box type and very large, that is all my mother recollects about his photographic equipment. PE : Did he have his own mini lab to develop photographs ? M : Yes. He made it by himself.
PE : Can you tell me more about his utopia ? M : He lived from 1891 to 1963 and faced some wars and many turning points in the economy and ideology. He was a Christian and very liberal, so he was not satisfied with his homeland. Perhaps he was searching for his identity and a peaceful spiritual land he would be able to belong forever. I think this was his utopia. PE : What did you think about his photographs when you discovered them ? M : I was really surprised that he was interested in photography in his generation. I am very curious about how he learned photography and how he acquired his camera. I think it is a very advanced idea for an ordinary person like my grandfather to own a camera during his time. He must have been curious and resourceful enough to learn photography on his own. PE : When did you start doing your own photography ? M : I started about 6 or 7 years ago, simultaneously with visiting the local apiary. I started taking some photographs of honeybees and their beekeeping environment for my notebook where I write poetry. PE : Did your grandfather, even if you didn’t know him, have an influence in the fact that you are now a photographer or in the way you photograph things ? M : Well, yes, but not only in my photography, but more so for writing poetry and other artworks. PE : How did you have the idea of making diptyques and an exhibition of your photos with your grandfather’s ? M : The story writing came first. My grandfather went over to Manchuria with his whole family around 1930. I think he had his dream to live his life peacefully and built his home as a uto-