shashasha

Osamu Yokonami is a Japanese photographer who explores homogeneity and the relationship between individual and group identity in his work. For the series Assembly, he captured groups of girls dressed and acting uniformly, careful to exclude their faces. In the photos – soft, somewhat dreamlike pictures taken at beaches, in forests, on meadows – the girls blend into and express a new singular identity.
The book, originally published in 2012, is now available in its third edition.

“There are collective portraits where girls wear the same clothes.
Each person has their own personality.
I try to keep a bit of distance between us in this work.
Then, the existence of each person disappeared and the existence of the group appeared instead.
The strength and beauty as collective entity stood out more by being in nature.
The expressiveness of the group was attractive.”
— Osamu Yokonami