UNTITLED RECORDS by Keizo Kitajima 北島敬三

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1954, photographer Keizo Kitajima is one of Japan's leading photographers, having received numerous awards, including the Newcomer's Award of the Photographic Society of Japan, the Ihei Kimura Award, and the Nobuo Ina Award. This “UNTITLED RECORDS” is a massive work, with a total of 20 volumes and 320 works, and was awarded the 41st Ken Domon Award. Based on his past work “PLACES,” his focus in “UNTITLED RECORDS” was on “places that seem to have been abandoned” by the public. These places, which he photographed as he walked around Japan on his own feet, including the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, sometimes spontaneously and sometimes with a sense of loneliness, are given a presence in his photographs.
This book is a collection of his works published on the occasion of his solo exhibition of the same title at BankART1929, a project promoted by the City of Yokohama. The 168 photographs selected from the “UNTITLED RECORDS” collection invite the viewer into the landscapes Kitajima has seen in a larger radius. This is a gem of a collection of photographs that reminds us that “photography” is the moment when modern people living in a chaotic urban environment recapture the idea of “place.

1954年長野県生まれの写真家北島敬三は、日本写真協会新人賞、木村伊兵衛賞、伊奈信男賞など数々の賞を受賞した日本を代表する写真作家の一人である。2001年創設の、北島を含めた写真家たちで運営するphotographers’ gallery(新宿)を拠点に制作した連作シリーズ「UNTITLED RECORDS」は、全20巻、320点の作品が掲載された大作であり、第41回土門拳賞を受賞した。過去の作品「PLACES」を踏まえ、彼が「UNTITLED RECORDS」で注目したのは、世間から「見放されたような場所」。彼が東日本大震災の被災地を含めた日本各地を自分の足で歩き回り、撮影したこれらの場所は時にのびのびと、時に寂しさを抱えながら写真の中で存在感を帯びる。
本書は横浜市が推進するプロジェクト「BankART1929」で同名の個展が開かれた際に発行された作品集。「UNTITLED RECORDS」から選りすぐった168点の写真は、より大きな半径で見る者を北島が見てきた風景に誘い込ませる。混沌とした都会に住む現代人が、「場所」というものを捉え直す瞬間に「写真」があるのだと改めて思い直させる珠玉の写真集。