Series | Experiencing Reading: THE READING EXPERIENCE | Part 11: "Nameless Flower"
Series | THE READING EXPERIENCE
This Month's Three Books | Mar. 2014
Vol. 11 "Unnamed Flower"
The encounter with a book that changes one's life. It might be a fleeting moment. We introduce three photobooks and artist books selected by Atsushi Hamanaka of twelvebooks, a book hunter who travels the world in search of such special volumes. Good to look at, good to touch, good to display. Welcome to the world of experiential reading.
Wildflowers taking root by the roadside. The moment I happened to see them, I felt a gentle warmth. Surely everyone has had such an experience at least once or twice. They may not possess dazzling beauty, but perhaps it is their unadorned forms that move our hearts. This month, we introduce three photographers who capture such nameless flowers.
Selected by HAMANAKA Atsushi (twelvebooks)
Photographs by JAMANDFIX
Text by TANAKA Junko (OPENERS)
From the Roadside of the World
Berlin-based photographer Anne Schwalbe. Her signature style is capturing "nameless things" such as wild grasses and flowers, minerals, and water surfaces. In 2011, she published "Wiese," a collection of photographs of wildflowers taken over several years around her home. "Wiese XXI - XLVIII" is its sequel. This volume features wildflowers captured from roadsides around the world, from a small island in the Caribbean to a rural German town, and even Tokyo, where she visited for an exhibition last year. The scenes depicted are ordinary, everyday landscapes, yet why do they stir the soul? Perhaps it is because Schwalbe's gaze, as she gently observes them through her viewfinder, is filled with tenderness.
"Wiese XXI - XLVIII"
Author | Anne Schwalbe
Publisher | Self-published
Size | 240 x 315 mm / Softcover
Pages | 64 pages
Price | ¥5,400 (excl. tax)
Available at | twelvebooks, nationwide retailers (,IMA CONCEPT STORE, Daikanyama T-Site, SHELF, etc.)
Published 2014
*Limited edition of 1000 copies
When Two Perspectives Converge
Peter Fischli and David Weiss formed an artist duo. Both born in Zurich, Switzerland, they began in the late 1970s to capture the mundane aspects of everyday life with a humorous perspective, freely employing various media such as film, photography, and installations. For their solo exhibitions "Peter Fischli & David Weiss" held in Paris and New York, they spent a year on a particular project. It involved superimposing their photographs using multiple exposures. The only rule given was to photograph flowers. The interplay between the two unfolds into a pleasant harmony, awakening the dormant sensibilities of the viewer.
"Peter Fischli & David Weiss"
Authors | Peter Fischli & David Weiss
Publisher | Walther König
Size | 275 x 215 mm / Softcover
Pages | 80 pages
Published 1999
*Private collection
Creating "Art" with Flowers
Collier Schorr, a German-born artist. She also works as a fashion photographer, and her work possesses a certain stylishness. This is also true of her photobook "Blumen," set in her hometown of Schwäbisch Gmünd (a town in southern Germany). However, the subjects this time are not people, but flowers. She poses flowers in various ways and then photographs them in combination with "nameless things" found in Schwäbisch Gmünd, such as chairs, plaster, signs, plum trees, and more. This is flower art that goes beyond mere floral arrangement.
"Blumen"
Author | Collier Schorr
Publisher | SteidlMACK
Size | 250 x 314 mm / Hardcover
Pages | 104 pages
Price | Open price
Available at | IMA CONCEPT STORE, Daikanyama T-Site, etc.
Published 2010
Atsushi Hamanaka | HAMANAKA Atsushi
Representative 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 exhibitions. www.twelve-books.com
Photo by Daisuke Hamada