Border
A few years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, photographer Yoshida Shigeru visited the area where 20,000 people lost their lives. Inspired by the sight of people praying towards the sea, he dedicated his photographic project, “Border,” to their prayers. Yoshida writes, “I try to express the hidden energy of prayer in my photographs. For me the act of praying is vital for people who long for peace.”
In his accompanying essay, “Spirit Pathways,” author John Dougill writes, “Stand on a seashore and the waves call to us in seductive tones… Set against the swelling expanse, theevocative shape of a Japanese torii, simple but graceful, frames a pathway to the unseen. This gateless gate marks a symbolic border between the mundane and the sacred, a portal through which to enter the spirit world.” Yoshida’s landscapes beckon us to enter this unseen world.
Yoshida is most well-known for photographing trees around the world and his books: The Earth Inheritance, The Last Big Trees and The Venerable Trees in Japan.
JA