SHORT STORIES: Beppu

Photobook “SHORT STORIES: Beppu” by photographer Sohei Nishino. The first installment in the “SHORT STORIES” series, which reconfigures the artist’s signature “Diorama Map”—a large-scale collage of countless photographs taken while walking through cities around the world—into a small book. Based on photographs taken in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, in 2020, it was published by Migo in 2023.

“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.

This book primarily features photographs taken by Nishino as he visited approximately 200 hot spring baths in Beppu. It captures the everyday life of the town revealed through the hot springs, including the simple structures of public baths used by locals, people soaking in the tubs, and light and steam streaming through windows. Many of the photographs were taken indoors, and the expressions of the people and the scenes of bathing are important elements of the work.

The three included essays, “Pilgrimage to Sacred Hot Springs,” “Journey to the Universe,” and “Behind the Photographs,” recount Nishino’s experiences visiting Beppu’s public baths, childhood memories of public bathhouses and floating in the Dead Sea, and events surrounding his photography at the hot springs. They convey the artist’s actions and sensations during the photography process, which cannot be seen in the finished work alone.

By unfolding portions of the large collage across the pages, the book alternates between an overview of the entire town and intimate perspectives of the people gathered at the hot springs. Two fold-out panoramic plates are also included. This is a book that allows readers to trace the landscape of Beppu and the lives of its people through both photographs and text. The work is also exhibited at the stay-over hotel “GALLERIA MIDOBARU” in Beppu, Oita Prefecture.

[Title] SHORT STORIES: Beppu
[Publisher] Migo
[Publication Date] June 24, 2023 (First Edition, First Printing)
[Page Count] 64 pages + 2 fold-out panoramic plates
[Size] Approx. 155 × 165 × 10 mm / 173 g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese, English
[Title Reading] SHORT STORIES: Beppu
[Author/Editor/etc.] Sohei Nishino/Photography, Text, Editing; Emi Yamane/Editing, Design; Takata Yokoyama/Illustration; Yukari Chiarabatti/Translation
[Printing/Binding] Atomi Co., Ltd./Printing, Binding
[ISBN] 9784991284601
[Condition] New
[Accessories] -
[Featured In] -
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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 single cityscapes. 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 vantage points, to reconstruct the overall image of cities based on his memories and experiences. He continues to work on cities around the world, including Tokyo, London, and Amsterdam.

In 2005, he received the Minjō Selection 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 international photography award Prix Pictet “Space.”

He has held exhibitions both in Japan and abroad and presented his work at the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 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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