Beauty and Power—A Remembrance of Jacqueline Hassink in Kyoto

The subjects of Dutch photographer Jacqueline Hassink were varied, global and profound. They included the boardrooms of the world’s largest corporations, industrial rock quarries, haute couture fitting rooms, and the homes and offices of powerful Arab businesswomen. Hassink was also fascinated by Kyoto’s temple gardens. and pursued a decade-long project photographing them. In her book, View, Kyoto (Hatje Cantz), she states her initial idea “to create a series of photographs exploring the undefined border between public and private space by photographing the garden from deep inside the temple, balancing the areas of tatami/meditation space and garden space equally in the image.” Hassink’s vision of Kyoto’s power and beauty offered a new perspective of some of the city’s most familiar and photographed spaces.

Hassink’s last visit to Kyoto was in 2016, when she was beginning something new: documenting the private spaces within the temples. Long-established connections with successive abbots of Tofukuji Temple allowed her access to the kitchens, dining areas, and meditation spaces of the Zen monks.

These portraits were captured at Tofukuji by KJ Associate Editor Lane Diko, who had worked with Hassink in New York and throughout the View, Kyoto project. Hassink passed away in 2018 at the age of 52, and Diko’s remembrance of her life and work was featured in KJ 94, which focused on international artists inspired by Kyoto.