Doors by Yusuke Yamatani
A collection of works by Japanese photographer Yusuke Yamatani.
This book documents Yamatani's European tour for his self-portrait work "Doors," which combines photography and drum performance, and was produced as a response to this photographic expression that originated from performance. Initially, it was produced in a limited edition of 181 copies as a return gift for crowdfunding to realize the European tour, but in response to the spread of COVID-19 infection and the accelerating division of the world, the cover was changed with the permission of the supporters and released to the general public with the desire to "have more people see this kind of road movie and documentary-like photo book, in which half-naked Asians travel freely around Europe by car and perform in various places, and to have them think about the nostalgic past and the future to come."
In the performance, multiple cameras are set up around the drum set that Yamatani plays, and when sensors detect the vibrations of the drums, Yamatani himself is photographed with a strong strobe light. The photographs are then sent to a computer and printed out by multiple printers. By continuing to beat the drums furiously, Yamatani induces himself into a trance state, and in front of the camera and the audience, a self-portrait is taken in which his conscious and unconscious meet, while at the same time the automatically rotating camera captures the audience and the venue, all looking at Yamatani.
In September 2019, Yamatani embarked on a one-month tour of the six European countries where this performance is held. He traveled 4,980 km and took 3,563 photos of Yamatani during all eight performances. In addition to photos taken during the performances, the photo book features snapshots taken on the way from city to city, landscapes, meals, hotels, and people he met. Other important elements that make up the photo book include flyers announcing the event, postcards written from the local area, photograms recording traces of drumming, and photos sent by local people after returning home. The book also contains a 20,000-word interview by Yamatani himself, and is a masterpiece that summarizes the photographer's current view of photography that he has come to see after groping around the world for about two years.
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Title: Doors
Artist: Yusuke Yamatani
Gallery Yamatani, 2020
Softcover with booklet, text in English and Japanese
297 x 210 mm, 400 pages
¥10,000 + tax