[Special limited edition / Signed / Limited to 500 copies] Windows by Yoshiyuki Okuyama

About the productJapanese

A series of photographs of approximately 100,000 opaque glass windows in Tokyo

Yoshiyuki Okuyama is always pursuing new possibilities in photography and video expression, and has garnered overwhelming support from a wide range of generations. His previous work, "Flowers" (2021, Akaaka Art Publishing), also attracted attention and was featured in the American magazine "VOGUE" (US edition), gaining worldwide acclaim.
This new photo book, which follows on from the previous one, is a massive 750-page volume. While walking around the streets of Tokyo, the artist took about 100,000 photos over the course of two and a half years during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the everyday objects inside homes that are vaguely visible through opaque glass windows. Each photo in "Windows" is endlessly fascinating, as it is a completely new portrait that stimulates the imagination of the strangers who live there.

The cover of the book is made of ochre-colored cloth, reminiscent of the wood and earth used in Japanese architecture, and features a photo of a window with the word "Tokyo" floating in it. The cover of the special edition, limited to 500 copies, is covered in white cloth reminiscent of the exterior walls, and each volume is signed by Okuyama.
*This is the sales page for the [Special Limited Edition]. There is also a separate sales page for the regular edition.

[Book summary]
Yoshiyuki Okuyama's new photo collection, "Windows," is a series of approximately 100,000 photographs of opaque glass windows in Tokyo taken over two and a half years, from April 2020 to November 2022. This book contains 724 of these photographs, which Okuyama took for the first time using a digital camera.
During this time of COVID-19, Okuyama, who rarely travels abroad, walked the streets of Tokyo and noticed the expressions of windows. Many of the windows facing the street are made of opaque glass such as frosted or patterned glass, allowing various everyday items inside to be seen through. Kitchen and bathroom plumbing, figures, flowers, laundry, posters, umbrellas, Shinto shrines, bicycles... The interior space trimmed along the window frame becomes an abstract pattern, and while housing shadows and reflections from the outside, it makes you imagine the presence of someone living there. It was the moment when each window became a portrait of the people of Tokyo. When looking through the window, which was the viewfinder of a camera, what seemed to be a separation between inside and outside became a screen, and the flat surface took on a new depth. In his previous work, "flowers" (2021, AKAAKA Art Publishing), Okuyama depicted a dialogue with his late grandmother through flowers, in which the gaze from inside to outside through the window overlapped with facing a certain person. In this work, "Windows," the viewer looks from the outside inward, engaging in dialogue with strangers, and the numerous, individual portraits will naturally reflect the society at their feet.
Tokyo, where different things are built close together, is a city that is constantly in flux and overproduced. Okuyama believes that the opaque glass windows reflect the distance between the people who live there, and historically, they originated from shoji screens that are closed but allow outside light to pass through. "Windows," which connects to architecture and culture through windows, is also a valuable record of the era. Okuyama's footsteps as he walks carefully through the streets of Tokyo may remind one of Eugène Atget, who photographed Paris around the 20th century. "Windows" is not a specimen, but fluctuates between concrete and abstract depending on the light and distance, and is a place where images emerge and rawness coexist. It is an important turning point in Okuyama's work, and his unique way of capturing the present and people casts deep implications.

"In Tokyo, a city packed with buildings and with an intricate cultural layering, I saw people's expressions in the opaque windows, which could be considered a kind of symbol. Gazing into the window felt like gazing into the eyes of a stranger. I sincerely hope that this silent exchange of glances can become a portrait of the people who live in the city of Tokyo." (From Okuyama Yoshiyuki's preface)

Author: Yoshiyuki Okuyama
Book design: Kaoru Kasai, Yuki Adachi
Contributions: Toshiyuki Horie (novelist), Taro Igarashi (architectural historian and critic)
Publisher: Akaakasha

Product Information

release date 2023 / 06 / 15

Part numberGPHT11615J-9784865411720

Specification B5 variant (H19.4 × W20.5 × D5.5cm) / 752p (724 works) / Hardcover / Published in 2023 / English, Japanese / Signed / Limited to 500 copies

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