Still Lifes, Tokyo

Comprising more than two hundred photos taken over thecourse of three weeks, the third book in the Still Lifes seriesleaves the United States for the busy streets of Tokyo, resultingin a volume that is both of a piece with and dramatically differentfrom Still Lifes: California and Still Lifes: USA. The roughly translated advertising blurb for the Tokyo hotel where Rudy VanderLans booked his stay promised "a world of stillness and motion,¿ and VanderLans used this as his creative prompt.Over the course of his stay, VanderLans walked over a hundredmiles, camera in hand, capturing an extensive document ofTokyo's lived-in details. Just as much care has been taken in thearrangement of the photos, with adjacent images often mirroringone another despite their wildly different subjects. Conspicuouslydevoid of human figures for such a populous city, these photos capture a Tokyo beneath the surface of the crowd, presentinga version of the city rarely seen in media of any kind.