Derech

Ilan Derech is a visual artist whose work invites viewers to reflect not just on what they see, but on how they see. What deserves our attention? And what do we allow to drift past, unnoticed?

After years in Mexico surrounded by noise and violence, he found refuge in Japan, where fate led him to his now wife, and calmness reshaped his vision. Stranded in Tokyo during the pandemic, he turned to photography and cinema to translate emotion into visual poetry.

Inspired by his favorite films, Blade Runner and Lost in Translation, Derech’s series “Moments Between Stillness | 静けさの狭間” reimagines the structure of haiku as fragments of a movie, unfolding as three 17-second visual poems that slow time and reveal what is often overlooked. Collaborations with ZEISS, Leica, Sony, LG, and National Geographic reflect his dialogue between tradition and technology, each piece a mesmerizing love letter to Japan.