Lieko Shima, in her series Rasen Kaigan (Spiral Shore), photographs the sun after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The sun in these images looks wounded, dragging its light across a landscape of debris. She writes a new chapter: the setting sun as a healer, but a hesitant one.
The book is organized into seven distinct sections that categorize the diverse writings: Setting Sun Writings by Japanese Photographers ARTBOOK
In the vast lexicon of global photography, few motifs carry the same emotional weight as the setting sun. But in Japan, the Yūhi (夕日) or Sekiyō (夕陽) is not merely a natural phenomenon; it is a philosophical anchor. When we speak of we are referring to a unique subgenre where visual art meets lyrical prose—a tradition where the camera becomes a brush and the afterglow of dusk becomes a metaphor for impermanence ( mujō ), nostalgia, and quiet resignation. setting sun writings by japanese photographers
The following exploration examines the written reflections and visual philosophies of Japan’s most influential photographers regarding the "Setting Sun." The Philosophy of the Golden Hour
: Offers a harrowing and deeply personal account of his wife's suicide, illustrating the "watashi shosetsu" (I-novel) tradition in photography. Lieko Shima, in her series Rasen Kaigan (Spiral
In the realm of landscape photography, Shinzo Maeda turned the setting sun into a study of texture and time. Unlike the documentary style of Moriyama, Maeda’s "writings" are formalist. He utilized the elongated shadows and amber hue of the tasogare (twilight) to turn rice fields and birch forests into graphic studies of line and form.
His sunsets are often overexposed—a harsh, bleached orb sinking behind telephone wires and concrete walls. In his world, the setting sun is a surveillance camera burning out. It represents the anxiety of the city as night descends; the shadows grow longer and more dangerous. Moriyama’s setting sun does not say, "Rest now." It says, "The vultures are circling." The book is organized into seven distinct sections
Moriyama wrote about the end of an era in photography, using the setting sun as a metaphor for the death of traditional film.