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In “Otari – Pristine Peaks”, Keiko Nomura photographed life in accordance with the seasonal tune of nature.
Otari, one of many small villages somewhere in the peaks of Japan’s Northern Alps. It is winter, and Nomura tells us of nature’s harsher sides. Hunters traverse the white mountains, shoot and skin boars, disembowel dears and birds. Once spring comes along, greeted by the villagers with traditional festivities, Nomura changes the theme from death to (re)birth: we find the woman protagonist of the book pregnant, kid goats and butterflies make an appearance, and the villagers.

“Why do I live here? Because the man I love and decided to raise a family with was a villager from here. We can work and bring up our children here, live as a family and see each other’s faces everyday. It is wonderful to grow the food that we eat. This is how I wanted to live.”

All texts in the book are in English (Japanese translations provided via leaflet).