shashasha

“Eagle and Raven” is a book of seven summers that Ariko Inaoka spent in Iceland, photographing the twin sisters Erna (Eagle) and Hrefna (Raven). The sisters grew from 9 to 16 years of age during the series.

Inaoka captures the sisters (“we dream the same dreams sometimes”, they told her) in dreamlike, surreal scenes, each image subverting expectations in one way or other and displaying the deep bond the sisters share with each other and with their photographer. Nuances about entering adulthood, about leaving childhood and innocence behind, enter into the story as Inaoka explores the omnipresent nature of life in Raven and Eagle’s relationship with each other.

The book contains a poem by Icelandic novelist Gudrun Eva Minervudottir in English and Japanese translation.