Akira Minagawa publishes a collection of works by photographer Shinpei Yamagami. Photo exhibitions held in Tokyo and Kyoto

minä perhonen

The Density of the Artist's Gaze Captured in Photographs. Also Notable: The Beautiful Binding.

“What moved me about Mr. Yamagami’s photographs was not the existence of beautiful things, but the realization that beauty is born from the emotion of beauty,” says Akira Minagawa, designer, of photographer Shinpei Yamagami, born in 1984. His first photobook, “Helix,” composed of two series of landscapes, monochrome and color, has now been released.

Text by Satsuki Wakabayashi | Photograph by Shimpei Yamagami

The monochrome series “SPECTRUM,” shot in 2014–2015, is set in Kamakura, the artist’s hometown. It consists of works meticulously stripped of personal emotions and memories related to the place.

Following this series, the color series “The Disintegration Loops,” shot in the same locations, was announced. This series is the result of the artist, who has always valued time and light by treating photography as subtraction, confronting color as well.

Akira Minagawa publishes a collection of works by photographer Shimpei Yamagami. Photo exhibitions held in Tokyo and Kyoto | minä perhonen

Based on these two series, “Helix” was re-created and re-composed through the artist’s current perspective. “What is important to me is time, not place; the subject, not myself. I have created this far through the intensity of my gaze upon them,” says Mr. Yamagami.

To commemorate the release of the photobook, a photo exhibition is currently being held at “minä perhonen galleria” in Kyoto. It will travel to Tokyo from July 23rd. We hope you will take this opportunity to experience its beauty.

Photobook “Helix”