The Humanness of Our Lonely Selves by Awoiska van der Molen

A photo book by Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen.

Van der Molen encountered these landscapes during her travels in the southern islands of Japan. The island's mild climate means that the walls of the houses are designed to be relatively thin. However, she noticed that when she walked down the street at night, apart from the sound of the television, the soft sound of footsteps in socks on the floor, and the sounds coming from the kitchen, the monotony of the air conditioner was the only sound she could hear. There were no heated arguments, loud laughter, or carefree sounds. This marked the beginning of her repeated visits to Japan and her journey to discover why these windows fascinate her so much. These windows function as a screen between the photographer (or the viewer) and the world, between the inner psychological world and the outer world of things. Through the windows, we can glimpse the life beyond, but there is no real contact. At the same time, the windows represent a longing for connection and a comfort with distance. In this respect, van der Molen believes that the windows symbolize the existential loneliness that many of us have to come to terms with in life, and so she embarked on her psychological landscape photography.

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Title: The Humanness of Our Lonely Selves
Art: Awoiska van der Molen
Fw: Books, 2024
Hardcover, Leporello with 16 page insert
280 x 220 mm
56 pages
Text in English
First edition
ISBN: 978-90-833459-8-7
¥33,000 -

Condition: Very Good