Ishuichi Miyako describes her experience as an adolescent in Yokosuka, a Japanese city home to an American Naval Base. Among the idiosyncrasies listed, Miyako expresses the following in the publication’s introduction: “the vivid contrast of light and shadow inherent in the town somehow created photogenic landscapes as the history of the town seemed to be making invisible scars everyday.” Her interest in directing readers and fellow photographers is clear; to consider atmospheric character in a specific place as analytically as one would with regard to portraiture or landscape photography creates images that elevate the mundane in a quasi spiritual manner.
Miyako’s work is uniquely sensitive to the spectrum of light, gradient, and texture that interacts in order to communicate a ‘Yokosuka’ state of being. The publication features a delicate Japanese binding and a title with a slight relief that invites a departure from the rest of the aesthetic details in the monograph.
