shashasha

“Gankotoshi” was one of the last projects Japanese photographer Issei Suda was working on before his death in March 2019. All photos in the book feature eyes in some way. Suda reportedly kept capturing snapshots in the streets containing eyes – in the form of illustrations, photos, markings, reflections –, completely unaware of the fact until he noticed them in his prints. He contacted publisher Akio Nagasawa to publish these photos – taken over many years – in the form of a book.

“Sometime later, when Mr. Suda had finished choosing the shots to be included, he contacted me again and asked me to meet up. However, one day before the scheduled meeting, he suddenly passed away […]
Needless to say, they were brilliant photographs, and everything from the editorial concept, to the type of paper, printing technique, cover design and overall mood instantly came together in my mind.”
— from Akio Nagasawa’s afterword (available in Japanese and English translation)