Handmade Books

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I still remember the shock I felt when I picked up the book “Farewell Photography" (Daido Moriyama) in 2006.

 

I had sold my camera and changed my field of expression from photography to abstract painting, and after seven years I was completely at a standstill, unable to paint at all. A state of stagnation accompanied by a terrible depression. The book had such a powerful impact on me that it destroyed it.

 

I picked up my camera once again and began to wander, as if I was venturing out into a realm that was neither painting nor photography. Words cannot express how thrilled I was when Daido Moriyama himself immediately selected my handmade book, which I had hastily compiled, for the New Cosmos of Photography.

 

Ten years have passed since then, and as I have compiled three books in total, there is another artist who has always been at the bottom of my consciousness. It was Arthur Rimbaud, a poet who had broken away from the world of poetry at a young age and flown to Africa. The miraculous dance of word images in "UNE SAISON EN ENFER" was in my mind inextricably linked to the destructive power of "Farewell to Photography.

 

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Mais pourquoi regretter un éternel soleil, si nous sommes engagés à la découverte de la clarté divine, — loin des gens qui meurent sur les saisons.　　

"UNE SAISON EN ENFER" 

 

why miss an eternal sun, if we are committed to the discovery of light clear and divine, - away from the people who die on the seasons.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　“A Season in Hell” 

 

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Ten years have passed since then, and when I revisited India, I was about to give up expression itself. I was no longer able to suppress my distrust of the power of images themselves.

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The discovery of "transparent light. No, I was going to dive into the light itself. Even if it meant losing my life.

 

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I have now returned to expression.

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There is no more hesitation.

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I know that the image itself is "transparent light.

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I give my heartfelt thanks to the various people and mysterious forces that have led me here.

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Gak Yamada