Rinko Kawauchi (b. 1972) is a Japanese photographer who has published many books of her photography. Her images published in the book Illuminance (Aperture, 2011) resulted in her nomination for the Deutshe Borse Award in 2012.
Illuminace (2011) - Rinko Kawauchi
The course notes pointed us to view an image that was on the front cover of Japanese photographer’s book called Illuminance. The image was of an over exposed flower and the learning point was around the subject of information – a well exposed image contains better information than an under or over exposed image. I think the image was used as the front cover as it gives an indication of what you will see within the book – soft, pastel colours of natural objects and shapes and how they appear when subjected to light.
Illuminance is a collection of images that were taken over a period of 15 or so years and have been put together to produce a study of the cycle of life – birth, life and death. It is a sequence of ‘pairs’ that share a subject, a colour tone, or sometimes a pattern. They are a dreamlike set of images and the ‘pairing’ is emphasised even more by the Japanese fold type pages of the book. This presentation device also builds on the cycle of life theme as you sequence through the pages.
An example of the pairing of images in the book (Google Images)
Her work includes Japanese and western influences where she combines mundane, natural and everyday moments in life. I am intrigued at how she delivers the ‘mundane’ aspect of the natural world as up until now I have been influenced by documentary/street/landscape photographers such as Paul Graham.
References:
Kawauchi, R. Illuminance (2011), Aperture.
Martyn Rainbird 