Memories of a Silhouette

◆Winner of the Kimura Ihei Award ◆A collection of essays by the pioneering female avant-garde photographer who challenged gender stereotypes in the 1990s ◆Winner of the 2010 Kodansha Essay Award and nominated for the Mishima Yukio Prize, highly praised by all judges! Childhood memories, sealed deep within the mind, vividly resurface, and long-forgotten emotions are gradually stirred and awakened. These thirteen exquisite life stories form "Memories of a Silhouette." Etched in a child's eyes, a sorrowful yet endearing family portrait. Yurie Nagashima, a Japanese avant-garde photographer who uses images to express "detachment" and "loneliness" through "intimacy," and continuously raises profound questions about "the nature of human relationships," found herself constantly recalling her own childhood after becoming a mother. When her son was six, she would remember her own six-year-old self, but these memories would quickly fade. One day, she passed a second-hand bookstore near Ebisu Station and saw the lonely silhouette of a disabled woman in Andrew Wyeth's art book, titled "Christina's World." Time seemed to stand still, and her heart slowed its rhythm. She thought of her grandmother, who had cherished her since childhood, introduced her to the world, given her the greatest freedom, and silently watched over her. Japanese author Mitsuyo Kakuta greatly admired an essay by Nagashima that she had read. Later, when they had the opportunity to collaborate, Kakuta repeatedly urged Nagashima, "Yurie, write something!" It turns out that life can be eternal. The thrill of that afternoon in the bookstore and Kakuta's encouragement inspired Nagashima to document her memories with a pen instead of a camera. "Although I thought about her day and night, the image of my grandmother gradually faded. Because of this thought, I unconsciously picked up my camera, meticulously searching for the details of scenes in my memory... I wondered if there was a way to re-develop those original memories, the images that were never captured but remained forever in my mind? Things from the past cannot be kept in photographs, but if they are written into an essay, they can be brought back to life, right?" Thus, she spent four years writing her memories of her grandmother and family.