Rinko Kawauchi: Illuminance (Signed in-store)

Ten years after its publication in 2011, torch press is bringing back Rinko Kawauchi’s signature work collection, Illuminance, into print. As evidenced by the book’s title, Illuminance acts as an inquiry into the proposition of light in photography. Her works depict our world, full of light and darkness; life and death. Within these glances, one finds both beauty and sadness. These sights transcend time and place and ask us to reconsider: What is ubiquity? What is universal? Through the work, viewers find a new door opening within the world that we see – with sublime and gentle grace.

The volume retains Rinko Kawauchi’s original sequence and signature melding of keenly observed gestures, quotidian detail, and a finely honed palette – and while following the precedent set by the original, the tenth anniversary edition features an entirely new design by Dutch graphic designer Hans Gremmen. On the book’s original release, Alec Soth declared Illuminance “an exquisitely produced monograph [that] should make Rinko a household name.” An expanded edition with additional texts by curator David Chandler; philosopher Masatake Shinohara; and Aperture’s creative director, Lesley A. Martin, this reissue contributes new context to and perspective on Kawauchi’s influential work. Extraordinarily poetic, brimming with imagination and sensibility, and following international acclaim, this exquisite ten-year anniversary edition will entice lovers of photography once again.
　　
– This book was a co-publication with Aperture, US. The text in torch press edition is all Japanese.