shashasha

For his new series “Behind the Blue,” Japanese photographer Takeshi Tokitsu, whose previous work includes photojournalistic series on Tokyo during the COVID pandemic or Fukushima Prefecture after the 2011 tsunami, has photographed houseless people living along Tokyo’s Tama River. Shot with a certain respectful, objective distance, Tokitsu introduces improvised tents (made of sturdy blue plastic sheeting) and slowly reveals their inhabitants’ way of life in fragments and details: shoes carefully placed in front of tent entrances, solar panels providing electricity, self-made and recycled appliances, written messages and decorations.

“Society usually converts the homeless problem into an economic issue, but I personally believe it is much more than that. Some homeless people may have mental issues. They may have trouble communicating easily with other people, difficulty fitting in to society at large. They may have had unavoidable bad luck due to societal conditions. Health issues or problems at home that were too much for them to resolve by themselves. Isn’t it just a little bit of luck that separates us from them?
…
I have no way of knowing if the Tamagawa River will continue to be a final home for the homeless or not. Where will they be tomorrow? Such were the thoughts that came to me as I gazed at the vista of that inorganic, textureless city spreading out beyond the blue tarpaulins.”
― from Takeshi Tokitsu’s afterword (included in Japanese & English)