SHORT STORIES: Amsterdam

Photobook “SHORT STORIES: Amsterdam” by photographer Sohei Nishino. The second installment in the “SHORT STORIES” series, which reconfigures the artist’s signature “Diorama Map”—a massive collage of countless photographs taken while walking through cities around the world—into a small book. Based on photographs taken in Amsterdam in 2014, it was published by Migo in 2026.

“Diorama Map” collages photographs taken from various perspectives, including city streets and rooftops, to create a single, massive cityscape. In this series, the artist crops details from the overall image and edits the work as if walking through the city again, retracing the memories and experiences of the time the photographs were taken.

The text included in this book describes the experience of photographing the neon lights of the Red Light District through a hole cut in a pocket, the fear felt when looking down at the city from the tip of a massive crane in the port, and the lives of people visible from the windows of houses along the canals. While exploring the urban structure and culture of Amsterdam, it conveys the act of photographing and the artist’s gaze behind the completed photographic work.

By unfolding a portion of the large collage work page by page, the composition alternates between an aerial view of the city and the perspective of an individual standing on a street corner. At the end of the book, a folded full-size image of the collage work is pasted, allowing the reader to unfold it and view the work in its entirety. Following “SHORT STORIES: Beppu,” published in 2023, the third installment in the series, “SHORT STORIES: Jerusalem,” was also published around the same time.

[Title] SHORT STORIES: Amsterdam
[Publisher] Migo
[Publication Date] February 5, 2026 (First Edition, First Printing)
[Page Count] 64 pages
[Size] Approx. 154 × 165 × 9 mm / 175 g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese, English
[Title Reading] SHORT STORIES: Amsterdam
[Author/Editor/etc.] Sohei Nishino/Photography, Text, Illustration, Editing; Emi Yamane/Editing, Design; Yukari Chiaravatti/Translation; Takashi Niishiki/Printing Direction
[Printing/Binding] Atomi Co., Ltd./Printing, Binding
[ISBN] 9784991284632
[Condition] New
[Accessories] Full-size collage work pasted at the end
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibitions] -

Sohei Nishino (born 1982–

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1982. Photographer. While studying at the Osaka University of Arts, he began creating the “Diorama Map” series, in which he manually collaged countless photographs taken while walking through cities to create a single cityscape. In 2004, he received the President’s Award at the Osaka University of Arts graduation exhibition.

In “Diorama Map,” he combines photographs taken on black-and-white film from various locations, including city streets and elevated sites, reconstructing the overall image of the city based on his memories and experiences. He continues to work with cities around the world, including Tokyo, London, and Amsterdam.

In 2005, he received the Minajo Shigeo Excellence Award at Canon Photo New Century. In 2013, he received the Japan Photographic Association Newcomer Award and was also selected for the Foam Talent Call by the Dutch photography magazine “Foam Magazine.” In 2017, he was named a finalist for the Prix Pictet “Space” International Photography Award.

He has held exhibitions both in Japan and abroad and presented his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the Saatchi Gallery in London. In 2013, he also participated in the Triennale at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York.

His major photobooks include “Tokyo,” “Water Line. A Story of the Po River,” “SHORT STORIES: Beppu,” “SHORT STORIES: Amsterdam,” and “SHORT STORIES: Jerusalem.”

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