Intimate Seasons - Hardcover

Maeda, Shinzo; Maeda, Akira

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 4770026870 ISBN 13: 9784770026873

Publisher: Kodansha USA, 2002

Synopsis

Peace and quiet: the familiar phrase fits perfectly. Nothing stirs in these scenes except the current in a stream or waterfall. No sounds disturb except the occasional birdcall or the buzz of a cicada.

Far from trying to dramatize a piece of natural scenery, the two men who took these pictures have removed themselves. We see what they saw, with our own eyes.

And in this quiet, peaceful way, we see the landscape of their country change. The stubble of empty rice fields is plowed under; the irrigation channels fill, and fields are flooded to receive the first plantings. At the edge of the ripening crop, wild lilies come into flower. By late summer the stalks are high, then harvested and hung on poles to dry. And, come midwinter, these terraced fields are buried under heavy snow.

Intimate Seasons is a special little book.

About this title

About the Author:

SHINZO MAEDA was born in the western suburbs of Tokyo in 1922. After working for a general trading company for seventeen years, he became a full-time professional photographer, founding the Tankei photo library in 1967. His personal style of landscape photography won him a number of major awards in his lifetime, including the top prize of the Japan Photographers Association. Before his death in 1998, he published forty-six photo books in Japan, and eight in other countries.

AKIRA MAEDA, his eldest son, was born in 1954. From his junior-high-school days on, he accompanied his father on photo shoots, and after graduating from Waseda University he joined the photo library his father had established. He is now a recognized landscape photographer in his own right.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Introduction

About the hills of Biei on the northernmost island of Japan, which we visited and photographed countless times together, my late father said: "When I first stood there, I was so moved I started trembling from head to foot. And, ever since, every time I see them, the hills have shown me a different aspect of themselves. Instead of growing tired of them, I seem to appreciate them more and more. My feelings for the place just keep on growing."

The reason my father and I carried on taking photographs of those hills and other similar sites can only be explained by the fact that we were fascinated by the way the scenery of this country shifts with the passing of each month.

The Japanese can be said to have a more acute awareness of seasonal change than perhaps most people. This finds its fullest expression in a wealth of seasonal expressions, from references we make in everyday conversation and letters, to the more specific allusions in haiku poetry. With all manner of associations accumulating over the centuries, a particular aesthetic has developed -- one that I would call an intimate sense of seasonal change.

The Japanese archipelago arches from northeast to southwest across the temperate regions of the east coast of the Eurasian continental landmass. Although there are great variations due to differences in elevation and complex topography, it generally enjoys temperate conditions throughout the year.

There are all kinds of ways of dividing the seasons here. The conventional four in their allotted order can be subdivided into early and late, doubling the number. Some would add the month-long summer rains, and perhaps the rainy periods in spring and autumn too. The dry winter of the Pacific coast and the spell of heavy snowfall on the Japan Sea side might also be included as seasonal variations.

Just as varied are the poignant words associated with certain phases of the year. Hakuro, for example, written with the characters for "white dew," means the beginning of September, when the dew begins to stay on the ground long enough to make a white veil.

It is with this awareness of subtle changes -- sometimes consciously appreciated, sometimes just felt in the heart -- that my father (and I hope myself) worked for more than thirty years: in intimacy with his surroundings.

Akira Maeda Summer, 2001

About this edition

• Publisher: Kodansha USA
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 4770026870
• ISBN 13: 9784770026873
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104