2009年より撮影してきました浴槽の写真をまとめたシリーズになります。
野にある浴槽は、
何となく擬態したりして馴染んでいるようにも見えますが、
よく見ると実に奇妙な違和感を放ちながら存在しています。
まるでそこが別世界への入口であるかのように。
この存在は、その一体成型の構造からも
謎めいた存在感からも
モノリスなのではないかと思いました。
そしてこの景色は
この世の最後の景色とつながっているのではないかと思っています。
2018年に「浴槽というモノリス」写真集としてまとめました。
このWebsiteには2009年より撮影している写真の一部を抜粋して掲載しています。
Monolith called bathtub
As old houses in Japan have been rebuilt and remodeled, many traditional
built-in bathtubs were also replaced with prefabricated bath modules and
then abandoned outside. Most have been reused as mere rectangular
containers because of their highly functional, durable, and weather-resistant
features.
I have continued to photograph these neglected receptacles all over the
country since 2009. Each field bathtub seemingly harmonizes with its
surrounding. But in reality, it awkwardly sits there with a quirky aura as
though it were a portal to another world…. This monolithic object can be
literally called monolith, while reminding me of Kubrick’s enigmatic
being,ー“”monolith.”
I took this series of pictures, with a fresh mind, under the gentle sunlight
cloudy winter days because that weather seemed absolutely suited to
theseobjects. These weather-beaten bathtubs are really thought-provoking.
The diverse types of bathtubs may represent the changing times; the way of
re-purposing: the day-to-day human deeds; how these never-decomposing
materials are abandoned: what humans have done and where they are going.
These various circumstances are embodied in all the wayside bathtubs. It
can be said that an aspect of Japan and its cultures are reflected in each and
every bathtub. These photos I’ve taken look like the last scenes we might see
in the last moment of this world.