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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Tomoyuki Sakaguchi





















Tomoyuki Sakaguchi's photo book, Home, is one of the warmest, quietest, and most lonely worlds imaginable. Taken at night around his hometown of Tama, a suburban district of Tokyo, these images are not at all what they might seem. The photos are entirely realistic by definition, yet the pure dream-states and magic they invoke give them a life all their own. This book is vivid and alive, luminous and wide-eyed, close to home, but yet so far away.

I found myself clicking through these images on his website often before purchasing the book, almost as some sort of meditation. Do yourself a favor and add this great book to your library; it also happens to be one of the best bedtime stories ever conceived.




Home was originally published in 2007 by Sokyu-Sha.
It was selected by Martin Parr in his widely-lauded Best Books of the Decade feature.
Copies of the book are still available directly from Tomoyuki through his website.
His latest project, Itasha, is available now as an eBook app from iTunes.

Below is a short interview I conducted with him recently about the book and his photography.






THE PHOTOS IN YOUR BOOK, HOME, ARE SO PEACEFUL AND CALM.. A NEIGHBORHOOD FAST ASLEEP. WHAT DREW YOU TO THESE IMAGES?

When I was a child, my hobby was astronomical observation on the rooftop of my apartment building. It was a very impressive and special time to view my town from above at midnight. Everybody was sleeping, only I was watching my town. I learned how to view and observe the night buildings and streets. Long since growing up, I still love night walks around my neighborhood.

WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WORK?

Of course I know many achievements of our predecessors, like New Topographics, New Color, etc. But for Home, mostly Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, and others aimed at adults strongly affected me. These animations show me a very beautiful background image as a set and stage that based on real, familiar landscapes. They show me I don't have to go anyplace; I can take pictures right where I live.



WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?

I love the shapes and structures of many objects and parts of residential areas. Power lines, telephone poles, guard rails, trees, brick walls, gutters, gate posts, asphalt, concrete, and especially middle class cars.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

Now I am working on Itasha, a car project about Japanese anime's fun custom cars. These are more digitized images based on digital camera and Photoshop. I take many images for exposure and focus on 30-40 images for one picture. I recently published the e-book of these photos, and am planning on publishing a paper version soon.

I am also working on a project that takes many collected objects of the late Japanese photographer, Kiyoji Ōtsuji's room with my friend and teacher. We took a few thousand objects from nails, tools, cameras, records, model railroads, etc. There were also private postcards, pre-WW2 grade reports, and magazines. We photograph everything on a white background with simple strobe lighting.

I also do photo work for architecture and magazines, and am a part time teacher of digital photography at an art university.



DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CAMERA THAT YOU LIKE USING MOST?

Now I use a Canon 5D MKII and Ebony 4x5 (for digital stitching). I don't use film anymore.

WHAT IS THE OVERALL FEELING OR EMOTION YOU HOPE TO CONVEY IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS?

I like a kind of photography that plays a role in recording and observing actual worlds. I try to use my photography to know the present real world of my time a little better.



All images copyright Tomoyuki Sakaguchi.

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