Dear friends,
It is Golden Week in Japan—a stretch of four national holidays within seven days, and a time when many are traveling. However, our family is staying home this year, for the very best of reasons. Last month we welcomed the birth of a son, Theo.
While I expect and hope to be taking as many photographs as ever, for at least a while there will be fewer photos looking at the streets, more at home or very close to home.
I’ve already experienced a shift in my photography in recent months. Though I did not consciously set out to document my own emotions or journey, the awareness of a coming child surely affected what and how I chose to photograph. Now, as I look at and think about the photographs I took these past months, I am learning about myself.
As such, I was very happy when the photographer Gabriele Lopez wrote and asked me to join him in making a zine.
Gabriele, who lives in Milan, is one of my favorite photographers. He was part of Fujifilm’s “X Photography” team during the program’s early days and is a highly regarded street photographer. But of late, he’s largely exchanged the streets in favor of a photography that is, in his words, “more personal, more private, more direct.” So, I felt synergy.
To make the zine Connection #4, we were further joined by Tadashi Onishi and Andrea Taurisano.
The photographs I contributed are photographs of daily life in my neighborhood. They reflect, I think, some of my emotions as I began thinking about the birth of my son while also still mourning the loss of my daughter.
In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be spending more time at home, and during this time, I hope to continue sorting through the photos I took during these past months, seeing what kind of themes I was unconsciously developing. Perhaps additional work, an exhibition or publication, might emerge. Stay tuned.
On a similar topic: I’d like to thank everyone who purchased a copy of my recent solo zine, Furukawa (discussed in issue 15 of my newsletter). There are still a limited number of copies over at Tour Dogs. It’s only seven dollars—if you’re interested in the type of photography I make, or just in seeing a different side of Tokyo, I hope you’ll consider getting one.
Of course, if you have any questions about either of these zines, please don’t hesitate to write and ask.
I’ll wrap up by mentioning a photobook that I’ve been looking at and thinking about a lot: Tryadhvan. In it, the photographer Eriko Koga documents her daily life at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto while awaiting the birth of her child. For many, Japanese Buddhism is defined by concerns around death and dying, and because that aspect of Buddhism is one part of Koga’s narrative, the book goes beyond celebrating a personal event to become an exploration of family bonds and spirituality.
I am especially intrigued by the Koga’s skillful inclusion of old family photos, which she treats as equals of her own photos, rather than as artifacts. Indeed, it can be hard to identify which photos she took and which are older—and maybe it doesn’t matter. Time seems to both collapse and expand as I work my way through the book. The book’s meditative nature is supported by her expressive use of shadow and light. Some of these black and white photos are dim, the forms barely seen, while others positively glow from the pages.
The physical book is special, with fantastic printing, beautiful paper, and Japanese binding. But if you don’t have access to it, Koga has created a Youtube slideshow containing the entire sequence of photos from the book, and it is well worth viewing.
Don’t forget that Mother’s Day is on Sunday! I look forward to writing again in a month or so,
Joel