Seen: Rama Lama Ding Dong / press release
Who: Yusuke Yamatani / website
Where: Yuka Tsuruno Gallery / website / map
When: November 21 - December 19, 2015
In the summer of 2014, photographer Yusuke Yamatani and his wife took a month-long honeymoon traveling over 2000km from Hokkaido to the island of Kyushu with a tent and changes of clothes. Yamatani also had his Contax T3 and plenty of black and white film- the photographs from their trip resulting in his latest series, Rama Lama Ding Dong. Photographing one’s wife- and indeed, even one’s honeymoon- is certainly not without precedent in Japan. Indeed, diaristic photographs of spouses and lovers can be exhibited and published without accusations of vanity. Yamatani’s contribution to this photographic dialogue is rougher around the edges in the best way possible- the viewer will note the bug bites, public bath visits, and random natural nudity that appears in the series. Speaking with him in the gallery he said that he was not going for a “sentimental” journey, and instead wanted to keep things on his term for this age. This was one of my favorite exhibitions of 2015- and likewise the self-published hardcover book of the series (featuring twice as many images as in the show) is in my Best Books of 2015 list as well.
The gallery venue complex, TOLOT/heuristic SHINONOME, is situated in a large white cube that shares the second floor of a dockside former printing factory with several other (and literal) large white cubes in an industrial district near Shinonome station. It is not the easiest gallery to get to, but one well worth the trip it takes to visit.
Yamatani was recently highlighted as one of eight up-and-coming photographers featured in EyeScream magazine’s New Shutter Age new generation photographer special issue- his work was some of the most “snapshot”/street work shown. In a time where Concept reigns supreme it is fantastic to see young photographers like him receiving recognition for photos born from living and not simply illustrated ideas. Yamatani gets it.


















