UNTITLED RECORDS

This photography book contains 168 landscape photographs taken by Keizo Kitajima over more than 30 years from various regions across Japan.

The name "UNTITLED RECORDS" was first used for a series that ran from the January 2012 to the December 2013 issue of the magazine "Nippon Camera." It presented landscapes from both ordinary times and times of crisis as continuous, interweaving photographs taken in the disaster-stricken areas after the Great East Japan Earthquake with photos from the "PLACES" series, which he had been working on since before the earthquake, including those from Hokkaido and Okinawa.

Since around 1989, Kitajima has been exploring alternative methods to street snaps, continuously photographing often-overlooked places in cities and rural areas. These include vacant lots, parking lots, old houses, back alleys, temporary fences, and sheds. He finds layers of change and history in these places, which are not easily linked to specific narratives or emotions, places where "meaning crumbles" and "words stumble."

From 2014 to 2021, he held a series of 20 consecutive photography exhibitions titled "UNTITLED RECORDS Vol. 1–20" at photographers' gallery. Combining new and old works, he presented the continuously changing disaster-stricken areas and landscapes across Japan without rushing to a conclusion.

This book includes photographs ranging from a shed taken in Rishiri-cho, Hokkaido, in 2009, to a vacant parking lot and dilapidated building taken in Nagano in 2005. Through sheds exposed to weathering and demolition, and vacant lots bearing traces of lost buildings, it records the movements of decline and regeneration lurking in places left behind by narratives of modern "wealth" and "future."

A medium-format digital camera was used for the shooting, and the intricately captured landscapes, from corner to corner of the frame, are arranged flatly under uniform light. Each photograph, which cannot be reduced to explanations of place or date, traverses the time before and after the earthquake, questioning the nature of "records" in photography.

[Title] UNTITLED RECORDS
[Publisher] BankART1929
[Date of Publication] August 26, 2022, First Edition, First Printing
[Page Count] 192 pages
[Size] Approx. 316 x 254 x 19mm / 1225g
[Format] Softcover, slipcase
[Language] Japanese, English
[Title Pronunciation] UNTITLED RECORDS
[Author/Editor, etc.] Keizo Kitajima / Photography, Shigemi Takahashi / Text, Noriko Miyanaga / Translation, Soki Kitakaze / Design, Osamu Ikeda, Tamaki Hosobuchi / Planning
[Printing and Binding] Aiward (Yuki Ura / Printing Director)
[ISBN] 9784902736533
[Condition] Used [7] Very Good (slight bump to case corner)
[Accessories] Slipcase
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibition] Keizo Kitajima "UNTITLED RECORDS"｜BankART Station｜August 26 - September 25, 2022

Keizo Kitajima (born 1954)

Photographer born in Nagano Prefecture.

In 1975, he held his first solo exhibition "BC Street Okinawa" at Shinjuku Nikon Salon. From 1979 to 1980, he presented a series of consecutive photo exhibitions and published photo books "Photo Express Tokyo" and "Photo Express Okinawa."

From the late 1980s onward, he shifted from street snaps to photographing landscapes and portraits. In the 2000s, he developed "PORTRAITS," photographing anonymous people, and "PLACES," documenting landscapes across Japan.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake, he began "UNTITLED RECORDS" as a framework to reconsider "PLACES." From 2014 to 2021, he held a series of 20 consecutive photo exhibitions at photographers' gallery.

His major photo books include "NEW YORK," "A.D.1991," "USSR 1991," and "EUROPEAN DIARY 1983–1984." He has received the Photographic Society of Japan Newcomer's Award, the 8th Ihei Kimura Photography Award, the 32nd Ina Nobuo Award, and the 41st Ken Domon Award.

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