shashasha

“Breathless” is the debut photobook of Tsubasa Kawakuchi, Japanese photographer and Grand Prix winner of the 2nd Fugensha Photo Award.

Having found a broken camera that gave his photos a slight magenta tinge, Kawakuchi began to photograph the summer in his hometown. With the camera adding a tint of nostalgia, Kawakuchi’s images depict present and future in rural Japan—riverbanks, flower fields, insects, the buzz and hum of cicadas, empty schoolyards, and an ever-present sense of something beyond comprehension, something that may manifest or continue to linger. With “Breathless,” Kawakuchi connects to the collective experience of a Japanese summer while engaging with his own memories and ambiguous feelings.

“Through the grass and bushes, a woman in a white floral dress with the hem rolled up walks ahead. As I follow her, thoughts and memories waver in my mind, only to be drowned out by the buzzing of the cicadas. Like a young boy about to make a mistake, I feel my heart beating furiously. What can be done? I can neither stop nor proceed. Humans are restrained, but photography should be freer and more open.”
― from Tsubasa Kawakuchi’s foreword (all text included in Japanese & English)