NATSOUMI – TOKϴYO – Special Edition

Self published 2023

In the middle of nowhere, Natsoumi found herself in the deep mountains of Okuaizu, Fukushima.  On snowy days, the artist wore sledges and filmed with a medium-format film camera, Zenza Bronica.  On the film, the artist recited and followed the melody of the local lullaby and the mountain worship in Northeast Japan that she had heard from her grandmother when she was a child.

A comment from the artist:

Until 2009, I spent my time in Paris as a correspondent for the magazine +81, covering the latest art and design.  But one weekend in London, that fate changed.  Coincidentally, I met a man from the Tohoku region, where I was born, Northeast of Japan, and we hit it off.  I followed his footsteps back to Japan and started living with him in Fukushima.  Strangely enough, it was a year before the disaster.  I experienced two miscarriages in quick succession.  I felt as if I could get close to the souls of the babies who had died, so I took my camera and went into a mountain trail deep in the mountains.  The world I saw there – incredible landscapes and customs that made me feel as if I were daydreaming – was TOKΘYO（常世）, a parallel world to the reality that the ancient Japanese believed in.  I took the photographs while asking the question “Where am I?”  The black-and-white films used in the photographs have something in common with the notion of life and death in the Tohoku region.  Life and death are two sides of the same coin, but the boundary between them is vague and transparent.

Signed and given an exclusive serial number, this photo book was made using the traditional Japanese binding technique.  All steps were carried out manually by skilled craftsmen.

Format: 223 x 300 mm

Language: English

Limited edition: 20 with a choice of a red or white book cover

ORIGINAL PRINT WITH ITS CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

PLATINUM-PALLADIUM PRINT ON VINTAGE WASHI PAPER

TRADITIONAL HANDMADE CAREFULLY CRAFTED BY HAND