Personal Matters
Motohiko Hasui
Bemojake
Designed by Maxwell Anderson
Hardcover
Edition of 500
104 pages
130 x 210 mm
2013
ISBN 9780956247056
Personal Matters is a collection of everyday snapshots by one of Japan’s most promising emerging talents in fashion photography. However, for Hasui, the personal matters more. Caught between emotional ties to his Japanese identity and an affinity to the West, Hasui captures his relationship to a place, Tokyo, and to the people who wander in and out of his life.
That tease of longing for his other self outside of Tokyo is counterbalanced by the love of his wife, family and friends who are predominant in his environment. From page to page, Hasui is continually questioning his identity and place in the world, pitting his existential desires for Western ideals against his attachment to his Japanese heritage. The result is an honest and personal documentation of contemporary sub-culture and fashion in Tokyo, through the eyes of a person who is in the thick of it, both physically and emotionally.
The book encompasses the transience and permanence of his personal relationships and the physical flow of existence in one of the world’s busiest and concrete cities.
About the Artist
Motohiko Hasui is a photographer born and raised in Japan. He studied Photography in Central Saint Martins Art and Design and London College of Communication. After graduating university, he moved back to Tokyo, where he grew up, in 2007. Motohiko started shooting for editorials, publications and newspapers internationally such as M le magazine du monde, New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Quarterly and Dazed and Confused. He is often inspired by what he sees in everyday life in Tokyo consequently, delivering a unique style into commissioned projects. Motohiko loves traveling, nature and life. His passion for making photo books also help him purse a deeper understanding to what photography might be.
motohikohasui.com
About the Publisher
Bemojake is an independent publisher based in London. They publish limited edition books, working in close collaboration with the artist and designer. The imprint was started by Maxwell Anderson in 2011.
