Sumimasen

The word Sumimasen - I am sorry - is used in Japanese society to express both apology and gratitude. It anchors a formal code of behaviour which is mainly used in public interactions and uncommon within intimate relationships. This reflects a unification of social behaviour that can be seen as a mask, thus further alienating the private from the public. This plurality of attitudes in Japanese society is recognised by the terms tatemae (behaviour in public) and honne (true feelings); also known as putting on and off a mask. Sumimasen by the IPG Project questions the concept of privacy and identity through Mayura (a pornographic actress living in Tokyo). By obscuring Mayura's face with a mask, the photographers seek to challenge the very notion of identity. Mayura works mostly from home with multiple cameras monitoring her 24 hours a day. This footage is streamed to a website where people subscribe to watch her going about her daily life. In a time when the boundaries between private and public have been breached, it might be the privacy of our thoughts that constitutes the true and ultimately, last remaining, meaning of privacy.