MOTHER

book

title
MOTHER
publisher
AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc.
designer
NAKAJIMA Yuta
ISBN
978-4865410976
size
128 pages,
200mm x 300mm x 10mm
price
4,000 JPY +tax
dealers
AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc.
Amazon Japan
contact form on this website for special edition
(including a signed copy or a steel box)
note
This book case looks like steel board. You can pull the book out of it and the cover appears designed with a photo of the engineers in a steel-making factory. That shows it is difficult to imagine their struggles for making beautiful products.

exhibitions

@ Canon Gallery Ginza (JPN) in 2019

printed on steel plate by EAST WEST

framing direction by POETIC SCAPE

Visualizing the gaps

The photographs are organized in a manner that enables the presentation of the narratives pertaining to the various gaps that have emerged within the Japanese industrial landscape. The initial gap is situated between the dynamic processes and the static products. The second gap is between the elder engineers and the younger engineers. The third gap is between the circumstances of the 1960s and those of the present day.

The Strata of Time

The accumulation of two-dimensional landscapes, captured at different times, can be perceived as three-dimensional by time axis. While the historical narrative may appear continuous when viewed from a macro perspective, the individual life course is intermittent. The temporal continuum is represented by lines, while the act of succession is marked by dots. The process of succession is inherently challenging, yet when we are mindful of the underlying context, we can perceive the connections.

photographs

The blast furnace, which represents the primary apparatus within the steel-making facility, is analogous to the maternal womb. All Japanese engineers concur that iron has a life of its own. This concept is unique to Japanese culture. The Japanese engineers demonstrate a profound reverence and humility, attuned to even the slightest fluctuations in the iron and furnace conditions, which they perceive as crucial for the production of their exquisite products.

The difficulties encountered by the artisans in the production of the exquisite steel are not widely acknowledged by the general public. Moreover, this study examines the period of high economic growth in Japan through an analysis of the transfer of skills and cultural values, as well as an examination of the social and physical context of this era.

archival photo by Kaneyuki FUJIMOTO

archival photo by Takayoshi NAGAI

Nominations

2020
"London International Creative Competition"(UK) HM
2020
"Domon Ken Prize"(JP) finalist
2020
"Hayashi Tadahiko Prize"(JP) finalist
2019
"Critical Mass"(US) finalist
2019
"International Photography Awards"(US) HM
2019
"Le Prix de la Photographie de Paris"(FR) HM