商店街・Shopping Street 2025 – book
During my artist-in-residence in Beppu, Japan, I became fascinated by an old shopping street, covered with an arcade, that had slowly fallen into decline. Over two months, I visited ten shops – from a camera store and bookstore to a former izakaya – speaking with shopkeepers about their memories and documenting their stories.
When it was announced that the arcade roof would soon be dismantled due to the risk of collapse, I decided to buy an old analog camera from the 89-year-old owner of the camera shop, who had once led the shopping street association. With it, I began photographing the street, capturing both the shuttered storefronts and the few shops that remained.
Shopping Street is a portrait of the small shops and their shopkeepers in Beppu, a once bustling street that has come to an end after seventy years.
torch press (JP)
138 x 210mm / Soft cover / 304P (with pouch-bound booklet)
English/Japanese
ISBN 78-4-907562-61-8 C0070
Design: Yuri Sato
Generously supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL