UEDA (Shoji).
Kidou kaiki [Return Orbit] - Polaroid 35m/m Photo Album.
Printed on the occasion of an exhibition at the Polaroid Gallery in Tokyo, this book comes as close to being a work of art as a printed book can ever get. All the plates are loose, printed on high quality paper. The pale colours of the covers beautifully reflect the delicacy of the images. The title hints at some form of return to a previous endeavour: Some of the photographs are reminiscent of the abstract and often sculptural work of Fukuhara Roso (Shinzo’s younger brother) in the early modernist period some fifty years previously, radiating with a quiet and delicate softness. However, Ueda takes a fresh look and presents us with an unexpected and deliberate artificiality of the highest order. He took the images with a 35mm Polaroid camera. Some of them are reproduced in colour, others in b-w. Ironically, Ueda considered himself more of an amateur than a professional, something that is less of a reflection on his status than his spirit. The present series reflects this spirit where the images are produced simply for their own sake. Only one copy in OCLC.
