Japanese
photographer, Aya Takada's work immediately reveals something unexpected: the
remnants and ruins of buildings and places - neither ancient nor stereotypically
exotic - in a country perceived by Westerners as on a constant economic and
social upswing: her native Japan.
Much of the work in
this exhibition was taken at an abandoned motel for quick stays called FU-RIN,
outside of Tokyo, which is also the title of this show, Takada's first in the
United States.
Takada, who was born
in 1973 in Kanagawa, makes work about abandoned places, work that reflects a
trend by Japanese photographers of photographing modern ghost towns and ghost
buildings (haikyo), which are not difficult to find in a country in which the population
is falling, putting its economic future at risk. In the United States, we have
seen countless photographers descending on Detroit with similar
motivations.
But Takada's
photographs go beyond the "urban-ruins" approach to photography.. Her
work appears to be informed by the detached gaze of photographers ranging from
Eugene Atget to William Eggleston. And yet, her work is not quite so distant.
Her presence is felt in her photographs, of what she calls simply
"ruins," or of snowy, winter scenes. It is an honor to present this
work for the first time at Benedictine University.
Text by John Sevigny
This exhibition ran from August
11 – September 30, 2014. For more information on Takada's work see: http://www.japanexposures.com/2009/10/15/aya-takada-from-fragrance-midnight/
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