shashasha

“Who knows when this forest path was born?

Before us is scenery without a sense of time.

The winding path leads upward, continuing without end.

Toge - a mountain pass.

That place, which is, in a sense, totally closed off,

Because we are at peace with one other,

Gives me a sense of freedom.

How beautiful is a forest path in winter!

All is dry.

The sound of a pebble tumbling down makes me feel the clear air.

I face the side open sky, and I stand still.

If I just breathe in this air, I believe it will make me forget everything

about my time in the world below.

Before long, the path leads down uncertainly.

When I go around the curve,

it will bring me back down to my tedious daily life.”

• Jiro Nomura

Photographed inbetween 2002-2011, Jiro Nomura's a mountain pass, is a photographic journey which portrays his own individual search for belonging. Following the Oonaguri rindo and trails near Arakawa village in Saitama, Nomura's photographs metaphoricaly symbolise his search for place as well as an exploration into the paths one takes in life in the search for both understanding and meaning of the individual self.