About Book 

インベカヲリ★、衝撃のデビュー作！！

10年にわたり撮り続けた全編女性のポートレイトが、圧倒的なエネルギーで見る者を挑発する。
被写体に応募してきた女性との対話を経て、インベカヲリ★はその心象風景を作り上げる。
「普通」を求める世の中への言葉にならない怒り、さらにその源にある自身への怒り、哀しみ。そこにしか生まれないユーモアやアイロニー。
「傷」や「弱さ」と思われがちな姿を、セッティングを通してカメラの前に晒すことで、ひとりひとりが固有の美しさと色気を漂わす。
背後の光景やポスターと渡り合う彼女たちのポートレイトは、インベカヲリ★が鋭く照らし出す「日本」でもある。

「人の人生を聞くのは楽しい。私の興味はまずそこにある。
被写体がどんな気もちで何を考えて、どんな過去とともに未来を見つめているか。個人のもつ人生物語からインスピレーションを得て、写真のイメージを膨らませていく。
写真を撮る上で、私は若さや美しさといった表面的な造作にはほとんど興味がない。それも人をつくり上げるひとつの要素だけれど、生きてきた過程で生まれるオリジナリティが見たい。平均化され、理想化されたものに個性はなく、むしろ一般論から外れたところにこそ、その人の思考や感性が現れると思っている。世間の常識を身にまとった姿を崩していったとき、その奥の姿が見えてくる。
リストカットなどの写真はビジュアルとしてインパクトがあるけれど、私は傷より顔が撮りたい。病気の症状は個性ではないので、現象よりもその目から感じる力に集中したいという思いが常にある。
女性を被写体に選ぶのは、日常の延長として撮られることの感覚をもっているからだ。男性の場合は、被写体となることに明解な理由をもち、完成された姿を見せたがる。逆に女性はもっと柔軟で、自分を客観視したい、違う角度から見たい、何か自己主張したいときなどにカメラの前に立つ感性をもっている。
写真集のタイトルである「やっぱ月帰るわ、私。」は、カメラの前で、そうした自分の根源にある心象風景を晒し、世間のうねりから抜け出していくさまを「竹取物語」に重ねて表現した。

あらゆる感情のなかでも、私は「怒り」の感情に生命力を感じるから、被写体から鋭い視線を引き出して撮りたくなる。劣等感や悲しみや絶望など、人生に抑揚をつける感情の根源にあるのは「怒り」だと思うし、自分自身に向けられる怒りの中には、外部からの抑圧、たとえば世間の常識や家庭環境や男性優位な社会や生まれた時代など、様々な抑圧に対する怒りが秘められている。怒りは主張だから、そうした言葉以外で見えてくる発言を撮りたくなる。
人間とは、その人のもつエネルギーのことだから、顔や体を超えた先にある魂を写したい。」（あとがきより）

The title of this work refers to the traditional Japanese "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," about a magical princess who must eventually return to her home on the moon. Kawori Inbe says that her subjects harbor an "imaginary landscape" inside of themselves, suggesting that perhaps they might feel a connection to the princess of the story. Each photograph in this book shows a female subject, and Inbe has captured her subjects in poses that seem to hint at their inner lives. Inbe writes that she only photographs women because are "mor flexible" in front of the camera. Certainly, it would be hard to disagree with her after looking through the expressive images that she has captured here.Through her staging of her portraits--either the clothes her models are wearing, or the settings in which they are photographed--Inbe shows her subjects in their full power. This book was nominated for the 2014 Ihee Kimura Photography Prize. Includes English translation of a text by Kawori Inbe.

I like asking people about their lives. That is my first interest.
What my subject is feeling and thinking. How one thinks about the past and the future. I draw inspiration from the life stories people tell and fill the photos I take with those images.
When taking pictures, I have little or no interest in the superficial features of youth and beauty. Though admittedly those are components that have shaped that person, I seek the originality spawned from one's life experience. That which is homogeneous and idealized has no individuality. It's not until you get completely away from generalizations that one begins to show her thoughts and emotions. The inner person becomes visible only after their appearance clad in common sense has been destroyed.
The photos with slits wrists and the like are graphic, but I want to capture the face more than the injury. Symptions of a disease are not peculiar to any single person, so I always am focussing on the energy I see in the subject's eyes rather than what she is doing.
I choose to photograph women because they look like an extension of everyday life. Male subjects tend to perfect their appearance because they have a 'better side' they like to show.. Women, on the other hand, are more flexible; they get in front of a camera when they want to look at oneself objectively, see oneself from a different angle or ascert oneself in some sort of way.
The title of this photo collection -- It's time for me to go back ... to the moon -- plays off "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" as these women expose the imaginary landscape they harbor inside and flee the makings of this world in front of the camera.
Of all the emotions people have, I feel that "anger" manifests the will to live the most, so I want to draw out and capture a pointed look from subjects when shooting. I find "anger" to be the root of all emotions that temper life: a sense of inferiority, sorrow, despair, etc. Within the anger that one feels towards oneself lies an anger towards pressure from the outside that comes in various forms of oppression such as "common sense," "family environments," "male-oriented society" and "one's generation." Anger is ascertion, so I want to capture a statement that can be seen beyond words.
People are a product of the energy they have, so I want to capture the soul behind the face and body. (from the postscript)

Book Previews

Artist Information

Photographer , born in Tokyo in 1980.
Staged solo exhibition at Shinjuku Nikon Salon in 2007.
Received the Annual Jun Miki Award at the Nikon Salon Juna 21 Exhibition in 2008.
Has shown at group exhibitions in Los Angeles, Barcelona and Hong Kong, and staged a solo 5 month-long solo exhibition in Milan over 2012 - 2013.
Assembled a special collection of works for the june 2013 feature issue of TEiCAM BOOKS, a free magazine in Paris.

About Book 

茂木綾子、待望の写真集。
12年間のヨーロッパの暮らしのなかで撮られた写真たち。

長く待たれながら、これまで写真集をまとめることがなかった茂木綾子。多くの作品の中から時間をかけてセレクトを繰り返し、自身の「写真」と向き合ってきた。
本書『travelling tree』には、ヨーロッパで家族をつくり、移動し、ある時期にはサーカスワゴンで暮らした日々の写真を収載した。
どこにでもある、しかし二度とは辿らないであろう霧の道や雪の路肩。ありふれた朝のカーテンの隙間の光や、窓越しの樹々。バックミラーに写る娘の顔。
身のまわりのスナップ写真のなかに、茂木の言う「抽象的なことが象徴的に現われる瞬間」が鋭く潜む。
白い布貼りの表紙も印象的な愛蔵版。


「日常の中で、こんなにも謎に満ちた世界に当たり前な顔をして生きている自分や人や猫やカラスや雑草や木やパンや子供たちも、ただただ無名な存在で、何も特別ではなく、誰もが何も分からないまま、ただひたすらに存在し、やがて消滅していく。その『消えゆくものたちへの視線』を抱きながら、声にならない声に耳を傾け、目に見えない世界をじっと見つめて、「ほら、これだよ」と自慢げに指差してみせている。ただそれだけの写真集です。」（あとがきより）

"Travelling Tree" collects photos taken by Ayako Mogi during her peregrinations throughout Europe and Japan with her young family. There is perhaps only one recognizable event in this work: the birth of one of Mogi's children. However, "Travelling Tree" is not so much a document of particular events as it is a meditation on the course of moments that make up one's own life. As a result, the images reproduced here are quite abstract; they might focus on experiences like a shared meal, or a rainy day. The impressions that these images generate are intentionally difficult to categorize. Mogi writes: "Within the foggy, indistinct scenes that appear before us in ordinary life, I have tried to listen to soundless voices, feel the thoughts that fail to find words, and see the invisible presences there." Approaching "Traveling Tree" with such sensitivity will yield an enriching experience. Includes English translation of a text by Ayako Mogi.

We live our usual lives in a world full of such riddles as if it were no big deal-myself, the cats, the crows, the weeds, the trees, the bread, the children-yet we are nameless experiences, nothing special, and we know nothing, we simply are, and then eventually cease to be.With my "gaze fixed upon that which disappear," I listen for the soundless voice and look intently at the invisible world, boldly pointing, "Look. Here it is." That is what this book of photographs is about. (from the postscript)

Book Previews

Artist Information

1969 Born in Hokkaido. Lives and works in Nomado-mura(artists community) in Awaji Island. Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo（1990-1993）

About Book 

万物は流転する｜TYO-WTC｜松江泰治による新しい都市観測

写真の本質に果敢に挑みつづける松江泰治の最新作。東京の都市の一隅をほぼ定点で観測して制作された作品ですが、定点観測について通常連想されるような、時間の流れにそって変化を追い、ある完成に至るものではありません。本書の連続するページの中で、時間の流れは順行や逆行を繰り返し、またカラー写真のパートとモノクロ写真のパートも交互に現われ、ページを繰る度にいつも新たな発見に満ちています。松江はこのような緻密な構成によって、写真の本質的な問題を孕みつつ、至るところで建設と完成と破壊が繰り返され、常に生成の途上であるという都市のあり方を描き出しました。
　ページめくりの良さにこだわっての全編袋綴じ製本で、手の中で自在に展開できる造本も大変魅力的です。カラー／黒白、写真の同一性、時間の概念、都市のスクラップアンドビルドなど様々な観点において刺激的な一冊です。
　倉石信乃氏による「定点観測再考―松江泰治『TYO-WTC』」も収録。


松江が伝えているのは、都市にはつねにすでに途上しかない、生成しかないことにほかならない。工事はつねにすでに、至るところで始まっている。終わってもまた再開。都市には、絶えざる破壊と建設の交替しかない。とりわけ東京という、緑の成分を著しく欠いた、無計画極まりないアモルファスな場所にあっては。ここには、遡行しうる起源も完成されるはずの未来もなく、ただ途上での生成が繰り返されているばかりだ。それを一定の時間の厚みのなかでつかまえようとする果敢なチャレンジが、『TYO-WTC』に結実している。―――――倉石信乃「定点観測再考―松江泰治『TYO-WTC』」

Taiji Matsue is known for his highly detailed aerial photographs, which he has taken all over the world. These crisp images, full of visual information, invite the viewer to look across the entire frame. In this sense, "TYO-WTC" follows naturally from Matsue's previous work, given that the photographs here were also taken from a high vantage point. However, this book is something of a departure for Matsue, because the photographs in this book all were taken from the same Tokyo building--and indeed from only four fixed points within that building, all facing nearly the same direction. What do these 100 photographs show?  Naturally, one element here is time. As Matsue observes the same part of the street over a long period of time, changes in the city appear. Some of these changes, like the construction of a high-rise building, are obvious. Others, like the comings and goings of people on the street, or the type of train going by, are more ephemeral. Yet the book does not proceed in a simple, chronological order. Instead, time here moves backwards and forwards, sometimes jumping unexpectedly. Matsue also alternates between color and black and white images. These effects provoke a reflection on the nature of cities, and this book offers a fascinating look not just at Tokyo in particular, but urban environments in general. Includes English translation of a text by critic Shino Kuraishi.

Matsue's message is that in a city there has only ever been and will always be development, only generation, and to this there is no alternative. Construction works have always been starting everywhere. After finishing, they start again. A city is an unceasing cycle of construction and destruction. And this in Tokyo, an amorphous place, almost entirely bereft of green, and peerless in its absence of planning. With no retraceable origin and no possibility of future completion, there is only development, ever-repeating generation. It is the bold challenge of capturing this within the depth of a limited time which has brought us TYO-WTC. ―――――Shino Kuraishi"Rethinking the fixed viewpoint: Taiji Matsue's TYO-WTC"

Book Previews

Artist Information

1963　Born in Tokyo
1987　Graduated from Tokyo University, Department of Science
1996　Higashikawa Award [New Photographer Award]
2002　27th Kimura Ihee Photography Award
2012　Solo Exhibition "Taiji MATSUE: Surficial Survey" IZU PHOTO MUSEUM
Lives and Works in Tokyo