A brief sideways step into the world of paper with Japanese photographer Ikko Narahara’s early 70’s contribution to the revered Eizo No Gendai series.
Born in 1931, Ikko Narahara was one of Japan’s most influential post-war photographers. Known for his evocative and atmospheric photographs of isolated communities and later documenting his travels throughout Europe. On this first edition of the influential Eizo No Gendai series (also host to photographic giants such as Daido Moriyama, Masahisa Fukase, Tomatsu Shomei ++), Narahara sees two of his exhibitions collated into one book. The first is ‘Domains’, which captures time spent in an isolated Trappist Monastery on the island of Hokkaido in the early 1950s. The images capture an enigmatic atmosphere of remoteness and seclusion. Time stood still. His subjects appear detached, ambiguous and almost indoctrinated. Heads bowed in ritualistic service, shadowy figures set into chalky light and the vacant stares of the monks - almost as if looking through the photographer. It speaks to the human condition, asks questions and leaves the answers open ended.
The second set of photographs is from a series called Within The Wall which is set in a female-only prison in Wakayama prefecture. Similarly with the Monastery, the subjects are isolated and removed from society. Narahara again captures the essence of these spaces that few would ever get to see through magical compositional work. The contrast and juxtaposition between the of the aspects of both these separate lives of enclosure is beautifully and hauntingly elicited through Narahara’s imagery which feels suspended in time. A truly special artwork. Rare!!! We love books too so hopefully have more soon. (1st edition - with original OBI (slightly torn), in nice condition but some light wear).
