Chieko Shiraishi
Saboten to Shippo (Cactus and Tail)
Published by Tosei-Sha Gallery, 2008
Size: 26.4 x 20 cm
64 pages
Hardcover
Language: Japanese
I always found chimneys and cacti, rusty fences, telephone poles and aloes, things that feign ignorance, old buildings quietly catching their breath in a city neighborhood.
I let myself be guided by these objects, I walked around without any particular destination and I began to relax, refresh my mind and get excited at every street corner.
Insects, weeds, fish and flowers were moving there, things alive and dead, silently or with loud sounds. And strange feelings came over me, I felt like I knew a city I didn't know, and I became sentimental for a place I was visiting for the first time.
- Words from the artist
Chieko Shiraishi's first photo book, both humorous and melancholic, presents nostalgic views and strange objects she encountered during her travels between 1998 and 2008. In this first work, we can already see how she would later continue to pay attention to mundane but fascinating details of life, revealing their almost magical presence.