Series | Experiential Reading | Vol. 6: "The Street is Forever"

Series | THE READING EXPERIENCE
This Month's Three Books | Oct. 2013

Part 6: "The Road Keeps Going"

The encounter with a life-changing book can happen in an instant. We introduce three photobooks and art books selected by Atsushi Hamanaka of twelvebooks, a book hunter who travels the world in search of such special volumes. Beautiful to behold, to touch, to display. Welcome to the world of experiential reading.

A Journey Across the Americas—Jack Kerouac and his contemporaries sought the open road in the 1950s. About 30 years before that, photographers also sought freedom on the road. It was around this time that the avant-garde expression of capturing everyday scenes as they were became established. Three photographers active since 2000 shed new light on the paths forged by these predecessors.

Selected by HAMANAKA Atsushi (twelvebooks)Photographs by JAMANDFIXText by TANAKA Junko (OPENERS)

Life is on the Road

Neither too close nor too far. Vanessa Winship captures landscapes with a delicate sense of distance, like a poet transcribing what she sees into her own words. In 2011, she received the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award and used the prize money to travel to America. Her journey, lasting about a year, took her from California to Virginia, New Mexico, and Montana. This is documented in "she dances on Jackson." The America seen through Winship's eyes conveys a sense of silence and tranquility, yet also possesses a melancholic, sorrowful aspect. This may reflect her inner state, as she embarked on her journey after experiencing the profound sadness of losing her father.

"she dances on Jackson"

EXPERIENCE "she dances on Jackson"

A Half-Century Journey Through Gasoline

David Campany, a London-based curator, writer, and artist, showcases his multifaceted talent in "Gasoline." This volume compiles 35 press photographs taken over half a century, from 1944 onwards, all centered on the theme of "gasoline stations." It's a curious coincidence that exactly fifty years prior, in 1963, Edward Ruscha's "Twentysix Gasoline Stations" captured gas stations with a Duchampian approach, presenting everyday scenes as art. Campany, who states, "Gasoline stations are a microcosm of society," uses an approach opposite to Ruscha's to reveal post-war American society through the lens of gasoline stations, and by extension, the history of architecture, design, and photojournalism.

"Gasoline"

EXPERIENCE "Gasoline"

Parody as "Real"?

For the Swiss duo Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, photography is not about "capturing" something, but about "creating" it. "The Great Unreal," which chronicles their three-year photographic journey, presents a succession of "realities" they have constructed.A car full of holes,A cluster of french fries overlooking the Grand Canyon,Chair backs arranged to resemble a single roadThe photograph above is a parody of Joel Sternfeld's "After a Flash Flood, Rancho Mirage, California." They found a town similar to the original subject and staged a photograph with a model of a mudslide. This book invites you into a world of puzzle-like riddles.

"The Great Unreal"

EXPERIENCE "The Great Unreal"

Atsushi Hamanaka | HAMANAKA Atsushi

Director of twelvebooks. In March 2010, he established "twelvebooks" as a platform to promote the activities of publishers and artists with unique styles, focusing on contemporary photography. In addition to handling domestic distribution of foreign books and magazines, he engages in activities related to books and images, including planning, selecting, and directing photo exhibitions. www.twelve-books.com