Agake Masahito
Namekuji Soshi Gaiden
Posted by Sokyu-Sha, 2014
Size: 30.5 x 23 cm
Pages 98 pages, 89 images
Hardcover
Limited edition of 600 copies.
"Good weather. First cold winter of the year. At four o'clock in the afternoon, I went to the Western book section of Mistukoshi, then to Asakusa and by bus to Hirai Station. Crossing the bridge in the dim light of the lamps, I saw the rising full moon reflected in the bubbling waters of the river. In an unknown area, it must be the Nakagawa River. From the station to Komastugawa, there is a narrow street with lantern-lit shops and geishas coming and going. It looks like the bustling suburbs of Gotanda and Ikebukuro. Back to Askakusa Park, and dinner at Nakanishi."
The above is an excerpt from Nagai Kafu's diary "Danchotei Nichijo". Kafu was a man who took pleasure and engaged in aimless walks throughout his life. Similarly, in his sincere approach to life, Agake sometimes wishes to revel in the aimlessness, and perhaps this is what takes shape in his photographs. At some point in life, everyone stops to ask themselves, perhaps with a sense of loss, what they are doing, what they are living for, what is the meaning of the world we live in. The image of someone walking, aimlessly, indeed resembles a slug. Agake, as an autonomous and independent photographer, has probably reached this current stage without really being aware of it. This is a photography book that, in my opinion, is remarkably singular.
Publisher's text.