1. "Utatane", which means “nap”, is the first Volume of the trilogy and shows snapshots of everyday things. Especially striking in this book are the connections and juxtapositions of images (SOURCE)
2. The years 2001 and 2002 will be unforgettable for Rinko Kawauchi. In October 2001, publisher Little More put out three books of her photos at the same time (two of them are reviewed on this page). A few months later in spring 2002, she won the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award for two of the books from Little More. And if that wasn't enough, the Photographic Society of Japan later voted to give her the Newcomer's Award for 2002 (along with Yuki Onodera).
Her name and photos subsequently appeared in all the major camera magazines and she will have photo exhibitions at major photo galleries such as Fuji Photo Salon in Ginza, Tokyo and Minolta Photo Space in Osaka in May 2002.
What an incredible chain reaction it has been for this relatively unknown (but now known) photographer. It's like she's the new darling of Japan's photography world which has showered her with awards and lots of recognition.
For what, you may ask. Well, those books which started it all seemed to have clicked with the powers that be in Japan's photography circles. So what kind of photos are they?
It's sort of difficult to explain. Utatane shows miscellaneous snapshots of everyday things such as the sky (and birds), the shimmering surface of a lake, sunny-side-up eggs, carp (lots of them with mouths open) feeding in a pond, someone's hand, a party popper, people inside a train, and laundry spinning inside a washing machine.
The usual photo diary-type photos you might think. Well, that's what it looks like at first, but if you look at the pictures side by side, there seems to be some kind of visual or underlying association between the two photos on the facing pages. (There's one picture on each page.) As you go through the book, it becomes obvious that she put the photos together in deliberate pairs on facing pages.
Some of the pairs I can figure out. For example, there's a photo of a large tree's roots on the left page, and a close-up of a girl drinking a glass of water on the right page. Both are sucking up water, right?
Another pair: A close-up of a net (such as on a tennis court) with one string ready to break apart. The opposite photo shows a girl blowing bubbles. Both objects are on the verge of breaking, right?
Another pair: Many carp with wide-open, round mouths jostling in the pond for fish food. Opposite photo is many sunny-side-up eggs cooking on a grill (upside down). Both have a lot of round spots, right? Visually, the photos are a nice contrast.
Another pair: A car being filled up at a gas station. Opposite photo shows a kitchen sink with water dribbling out of the faucet into the drain. Both are spewing out a liquid, right?
Another pair: There's a girl jumping rope on the left, and a truck's tire spinning on the road on the right page. Both things rotating, right?
The last pair of photos show two rainbows on the left page and a car's windshield photographed from inside the car. The residue on the glass left by the windshield wipers have the same shape as the rainbows on the opposite page.
So it is possible to figure out some of the photos. But for most of them it's near impossible to see the connection. For example, there's a picture of tadpoles in a muddy pond on the left page, and a shot of a horde of people crossing the street between Shinjuku Station and Takashimaya Times Square. Gee, what's the connection here?
The publisher says that it is a book that conveys life and death. Yeah, but I'm sure there's more to it than that. The book's title is also puzzling. It means "catnap," but you don't see any people or animals taking a nap. Perhaps it refers to the state of being alive, but essentially dead while you are asleep. I hope I can meet the photographer someday and have her answer all these questions (SOURCE)
3. Carps, clouds, a curtain, a tire, fried eggs, a grandfather, a butterfly. These are the details of the everyday life that are too easily missed. Seen through the lens of Kawauchis camera however, the ordinary shines with patterns of light; even an ant transforms into a statement of style. This thoughtful debut photo book won awards for its graceful contemplation of mortality (no text in book). (SOURCE)
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