shashasha

The last photobook to feature new works by Takuma Nakahira

The book features photographs taken during four trips to Okinawa during Takuma Nakahira’s final years of his life. To Nakahira, Okinawa was a topos that allowed him to represent both history and present of Japan. It was also the place that allowed him to make his comeback as a photographer after Nakahira’s loss of memory in 1977

This will be the last new photobook in which Nakahira himself had any involvement. The photos Nakahira has taken while suffering his deteriorated memory and battling with his life appear more vibrant and energetic than reality, as if Nakahira used them to awaken his sleeping consciousness.
— from the publisher’s statement (translation by shashasha)

On March 12, 2012, an editorial meeting to decide which photographs would be included and in roughly what order was held, and Nakahira himself was present. Hence, primarily images that were chosen by Nakahira have been included. However, for the final selection of images, those that had issues of focus were removed based on a careful examination of the original positive film.
— from Shino Kuraishi’s afterword (translation by shashasha)