shashasha

“When I plunged into the hole in my heart, I sank into a deep pool.
After swimming for over a year, I finally reached the shore.
Then, something led me back to these mountains,
to the galaxy I was meant to photograph.”
― from Jiro Fukasawa’s afterword

Three years ago, Jiro Fukasawa lost a dear friend with whom he spent his youth. The friend had moved to the mountains, where he wrote novels and earned a living making charcoal. Following his death, Fukasawa went, alone, into the mountains where his friend had lived, as if to explore the void in his heart. Through the experiences he made – the burning heat of the charcoal fires, the smooth coldness of icicles in winter, the red blood of killed prey against the white snow, the vivid green of spring, the gray of winter nights, the otherworldly dazzle of stars, the mystery of forest insects – Fukasawa remembered the time they spent together and slowly but surely managed to mend his heart. With the photobook “Nighthawk”, Fukasawa shares a photographic record of his time in the mountains, in photographs whose meaningfulness and sensuality convey a deep and personal profoundness.

All texts, including several haiku by the poet Issei Tsuruoka, available in Japanese and in English translation.