Shane Sakata, a photographer originally from Canada, has called Hawaiʻi home for over two decades. Her images fit within the post-documentary tradition and focus on paradoxes that confront us daily. With an eye for irony and humor, she uses her camera to question false realities, photographing scenes that are often overlooked and rarely examined.
Much of her work addresses such phenomena as consumer fantasy, the built environment, and, in Hawai‘i, the profound impact of tourism and colonialism. She finds the modern world very much like in The Wizard of Oz where big promises are often made but the Wizard himself is a fraud. He has no magical power to grant wishes. His ‘magic’ is in creating a beautiful facade that, when pulled back, reveals only what is truly valuable – the heart, mind and courage of the individual.
Shane’s photography practice is an outlet that allows her to visually focus on personally vexing subjects and encourages her to question the unintended evolution of what, historically, were often considered positive societal changes but in hindsight arose out of a desire for personal enrichment by the originators.
Her work is intended to engender a heightened awareness of the visual forces that bombard us daily and result in a consideration of their collective impact upon our personal quality of life and that of those around us.
In her current project, GREETINGS from The STATE of ALOHA, she exposes the façade of the tourism industry in Hawaiʻi and how it might be a surrogate for other places that suffer under the effects of mass tourism and colonial attitudes. Previous projects include No Outlet that explores the impacts of urban development and Enchanting Propaganda that focusses on consumerism in the retail environment.
Learn more about where my work has been exhibited and my background by clicking through to my Curriculum Vitae.