cairn by Shigeta Kobayashi

A collection of works by Japanese photographer Mota Kobayashi.

This book contains photographs taken during a month-long trip to Iceland in order to contemplate the concept of being an individual. During his stay, he carried on his tent and continued his journey on foot, a primitive means of transportation. Intuitively taken, the numerous photographs, which seem to be an extension of snapshots, strongly reflect the aspect of personal travel records.

"This is a record of a shipwreck. When my wife and I gave birth to a child, I felt like something was disappearing inside me. What are you thinking? I was just looking out the window and vaguely thinking about "individuality". What was the meaning of that definition in the first place? Or what was it that connected the world and me? Anyway, I faced it by being alone.

Walking aimlessly from the streets of a strange town to the misty mountain roads. The midnight sun throws my sense of time out of whack, the unfamiliar camp blurs the line between inside and outside, and I sometimes doubt even the paths shown by GPS. Then, before I knew it, I pressed the shutter before I even thought about it. Language conversations, empty backyards, the wind rattling the tents, the unremarkable ground. The trivial things that appeared one after another changed the standard that I thought was real." (Partial excerpt from the author's statement)

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Title: Cairn
Artist: Shigeta Kobayashi
Self published, 2020
Softcover, 150 x 220 mm
192 pages
First edition of 300 copies