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Kiyoshi Suzuki (1943–2000) was born in Yoshima Village (currently Iwaki City), Fukushima Prefecture, former site of the Joban coal mine. After graduating from a part-time high school, he moved to Tokyo to become a cartoonist, but was so moved by Ken Domon’s Children in Chikuho (1960) that he decided to become a photographer. He attended the Tokyo College of Photography until 1969. In 1970, he debuted with the series “Coal Mining Town” which included images of the coal mine in his hometown and was published in Camera Mainichi. In 1972, he self-published his first book of photographs Soul and Soul and continued to make photographs while making a living as a sign painter thereafter. He published The Light that has Lighted the World in 1976, Mind Games (recipient of the 33rd Photographic Society of Japan’s Newcomer’s Award) in 1982, Finish Dying (recipient of the 1995 Ken Domon Award) in 1994, and Durasia in 1998. Nearly all of the publications were self-published and designed. In all cases, Suzuki took a line from a book he loved and expanded the worldview he saw in the book. The resulting unique and unfettered works show the lifework of a photographer who dedicated his life to books.