Windy Town

Windy Town is a photobook by Japanese photographer Akio Uchibori.

It is his second collection, following Pandora's Town Tokyo 1971-1975, published in 1999. It consists of monochrome snapshots of urban fragments taken between the 1970s and 1990s.

Train stations, alleys, restaurants, signboards, people passing by, posters on walls, scenes through glass—what is depicted are only mundane aspects of urban daily life. Yet, the images quietly imbue the loneliness and weariness drifting through the city of Tokyo, as well as the presence of its urban dwellers.

Unlike the intense contrast and aggressiveness seen in Daido Moriyama or Takuma Nakahira, or the alienating moments found in Issei Suda, Uchibori's photographs possess what could be called a "passive" gaze. It's a sense that the photographer isn't dominating the city, but rather quietly accepting the atmosphere and coincidences that emerge from the city itself.

This is why the snapshots in this book exhibit a Japanese sensibility and subtlety that differs from excessive staging or self-assertion. These works carefully capture subtle discomforts and presences drifting through the city, rather than showcasing decisive moments.

Edited by Michitaka Ota of Sokyusha.

[Title] Windy Town
[Publisher] Wise Publishing
[Publication Date] February 15, 2001 (First Edition, 1st Printing)
[Page Count] 84 pages
[Size] Approx. 231 × 264 × 13 mm / 675g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] KAZEMACHI / WINDY TOWN
[Author/Editor, etc.] Akio Uchibori / Author, Michitaka Ota / Editor
[Printing] Tada Printing / Printing
[ISBN] 4898300812
[Condition] Used [5] Good (Cover: light age-related tanning, slight stains; Text block: light tanning on edges)
[Accessories] None
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibitions] -

Akio Uchibori (1950-)

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1950. Photographer.

After graduating from Nippon Photography Academy, he continued to work at a commercial studio while photographing the city of Tokyo. He developed his unique snapshot photography expression, focusing on urban landscapes and people's daily lives from the 1970s onward.

In his representative work Pandora's Town Tokyo 1971-1975, he sharply depicted the anonymity and emptiness drifting through Tokyo after the period of high economic growth, as well as the presence of urban dwellers. He has consistently continued to photograph the city in works such as Windy Town and City Tokyo 1976-2001.

His distinctive gaze avoids flashy staging or excessive assertions, instead capturing subtle discomforts and the human presence drifting through the city.

< Related Figures >

Daido Moriyama, Takuma Nakahira, Mitsugu Onishi, Issei Suda