Photographer Yuriko Takagi moved from Tokyo two years ago and built a house in Karuizawa. Her home, which has the three functions of a studio, an office, and a residence, is a Japanese-style space with blank spaces and shadows, where you can feel the signs of the seasons while being enveloped in silence. Introducing photos taken by Takagi for her own records that capture the footsteps of her home and the surrounding Karuizawa seasons.
Transformation is impermanent
When I stay in this house, I can quietly feel the signs that the seasons are changing. I feel that when you are surrounded by a quiet environment, your five senses are sharpened and you become more sensitive to all natural phenomena.
The mountains bathed in the setting sun seen through the gaps in the trees. The figure emerges as a fantasy.
As the season changes from autumn to winter and the morning and evening temperatures start to drop, you notice that the water in the container in your garden has started to freeze. When the temperature rises during the day, the ice melts and turns into water, which is then frozen again the next morning. When you casually look at the ice, you notice that the way it freezes and the way the ice crystals look differs from day to day. Even the smallest phenomena brought about by nature always surprise us. As I spent my daily life like this, I began to pay attention to the mysteries of natural phenomena, and the project [chaoscosmos] was started, in which these mysteries can be seen for the first time through a lens. This project is likely to continue for some time.
Ice has formed on a nearby pond. I notice the signs of the season in the smallest things.
When I immerse myself in nature, I strongly feel that no two moments are ever the same. I can't help but feel that transformation is impermanent. And nature is also a wonder. The magnificent nature continues to create and destroy beauty and mystery far beyond our imagination. Since I started living here in Karuizawa, I feel like I've started to feel this kind of awareness in my daily life.
When snow piles up on the summit of Mt. Asama, harsh winter arrives in Karuizawa.
A panoramic view of the house surrounded by snow. I like Karuizawa in the winter when it's quiet and there aren't many people.
shadow of light
This house is designed to allow light and air to pass through, just as Japanese houses did in the past. Light streams in through the long, narrow window on the side. You can see that the angle, height, and color of that light change depending on the season and time. In the winter, the white glow of the snow is reflected in the room, and in the spring, when the cherry blossoms are falling, the cherry blossom color shines in with the light. Light brings out the colors of the season.
Snow is piling up outside the window. Light pours into the studio from the reflections of the snow.
Through the windows cut into narrow strips on the sides, you can see the expansive nature and sky, and a silence envelopes your home.
People who visit this place say that they can place themselves in this quiet space and feel the fluctuations of the wind and the shadows of the light. This sensibility is a sensitivity inherent in Japanese people, and I think it may awaken the Japanese genes that lie deep within.
Light pours in from the lattice at the apex where the roofs extend in three directions.
(Titles omitted)
Yuriko Takagi
Photographers
Born in Tokyo in 1951. After studying graphic design at Musashino Art University, he moved to England. He studied fashion design at Trent Polytechnic and worked as a freelance designer in Europe before switching to photography. He is currently based in Japan and is actively working while continuing to travel to Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. His works, which pursue the ``existence of people'' through fashion and the human body from his unique perspective, are delicate yet overwhelmingly strong, exposing the unique atmosphere of the place and the life hidden deep within. In recent years, he has also been working on a project called "chaoscosmos," which aims to capture the mysteries of natural phenomena. He has held exhibitions in Japan and Europe. Major works include ``Nus Intime'' (Yobisha), ``Confused Gravitation'' (Bijutsu Publishing), ``IN AND OUT OF MODE'' (Gap Japan), ``Skin YURIKO TAKAGI × KOZUE HIBINO'' (Fusosha), ``sei ” (Xavier Barral).
https://www.yurikotakagi.com
→Click here for the four seasons of a home seeking fusion with nature (Part 1).
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