Kawauchi Rinko is a Japanese photographer born in the early 1970s. In 2001, she released the trilogy photo albums UTATANE (“nap”), HANABI (“fireworks”), and HANAKO (a Japanese female name) and gained popularity overnight. Before then, she was an assistant photographer in an advertisement company. She was awarded the Kimura Ihei Award (a prestigious Japanese photography award) in 2002 for her first albums. What I am about to write is mostly my personal understanding of her works. Hopefully, this will make you interested enough to check her out on Google.
I was a high school student when I first saw the works of Kawauchi Rinko. I fell in love with them at first sight. Kawauchi’s works construct a world of light. Her photos convey a sense of intimacy, solidarity, and aloofness by just filming ordinary items. The color of her works is always with low saturation, which helps make everyday scenes otherworldly. Since her debut in 2001, her style and themes have always been evolving, making them hard to conclude. It might be better to look at the different periods of her career.
The debut trilogy UTATANE (“nap”)(2001), HANABI (“Fireworks”)(2001), and HANAKO (a Japanese female name)(2001) mark the first period of Kawauchi’s photography career. In an interview, Kawauchi said that the cover of UTATANE is actually one of her hands holding a spoon of fish eggs. In other words, the scale of the world in those pictures is as tiny as the distance between her hands and her eyes. Personal, private, individualized things constitute most of her subjects during that period. A sense of stillness exists in these photos remarkably. A balloon lying on the floor, a broken egg put on a table…… Rather than the so-called “critical moment”, they are like pieces from a still universe, a universe without the concept of “time”. In the comment given by the Kimura Ihei Award Committee, photos from the three albums were described as unintentionally captured landscapes of everyday life, with a soft, refreshing, and sentimental atmosphere, presenting viewers the Japanese esthetics.
The second period of Kawauchi’s career began with the albums AILA (2004), CUI CUI (2005), and the Eyes the Ears (2005). “AILA” is the Turkish word for “big family”, or to be understood as “relationship”. “The Eyes the Ears” actually indicates our five senses. These three albums marked the extension of Kawauchi’s focus from the tiny personal world to a broader world, family. A pregnant swollen bully was filmed with a pure black background, a group of cranes standing in a shining pond… Instead of isolated individuals, with photos from this period, Kawauchi began to discuss how individuals fit into a bigger society.
Kawauchi’s most recent works are Illuminance (2011), Ametsuchi (“the sky and the earth”) (2013), and Halo (2017). You can tell from the names how her themes have again shifted to an even bigger topic.
Illuminance mainly features illuminating things: a candle, a water drop reflecting sunshine, etc… Ametsuchi is an album filled with burning mountains. These mountains were pictured with dim colors, showing the primeval side of nature. Halo, on the other hand, focuses on the magnificent side of nature, such as the sun, the moon, and the ocean. In this period, Kawauchi no longer films everyday scenes but points her lens towards the grandeur of the universe. As an artist, her interests extend from the perspective of an individual to the entire human race. Seemly darker, photos from this period nevertheless show Kawauchi’s empathy for her peer human beings.
From individuals to societies then the whole universe, Kawauchi is constantly evolving. What’s next? I am very excited to know. One thing is clear, there is always something in her works that penetrates the shell of daily lives. It shakes you and questions you, leading you to some metaphysical thinkings. One of her photos features a dead deer lying on a road. There is blood all over the place. However, the sun is still shining and the color of the photo is uplifting. So, does the photo indicates hope or despair? It’s up to the viewers. The world is cruel yet beautiful. I think this is what I like about her most. She questions instead of answers, captures instead of judges.
What have I learned from Kawauchi? Well, she teaches me how to make extraordinary photos with ordinary items. She also teaches me that photographers should always bring new stuff to their audience. The composition, lighting, even colors of her photos have also inspired me much. Wanna see how my photos are influenced by hers? Check out the “See My Works” section.
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This is awesome! First Japanese photographer known 👌