When I sing with my hands 

A new artwork in collaboration with Sasa Marie Hagiwara - one Japan’s leading sign language performers.

This is part of my evolving photographic practice to capture sign language in all its grace and fluidity, power and expressiveness.

To accompany this artwork, Sasa has written a poem to convey what it means to her to use her Japanese Sign Language (JSL) to express her innermost feelings.

When I sing with my hands,

they gather in the gaps of the night,

layering delicate whispers on top of each other.

After the world has fallen asleep, soft giggles shine out from the quiet bookshelves,

and the hidden stars tumble down.

And so my song becomes visible to the moon.

When I gather my song with my hands,

it tickles the footprints left in the meadow,

it traces the laughter of the breeze.

Only the echoes of joy remain,

and when I close my eyes I can feel the silence of twilight all around me.

Somebody's back appears in the swaying tall grass.

The wind begins to sing in time with my hand movements.

When I create a song with my hands I strain my eyes to see the invisible sound.

When I take a song out with my hands I feel the breath of the earth.

When I make a song with my hands, the palm of my hand draws the universe.

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