Jun Abe’s latest book, Busanmatches his Manila (2011) in concept- the photographer took a trip abroad, photographed, and a fewyears later published an edit of the images through Vacuum Press.
Taken in the Korean port town over three days in March 2002, the photographer told me that as the trip was a company vacation for the staff of the photography school at which he teaches, he originally didn’t think he would have time to shoot actively, and he “only” took 34 rolls of film along, “just in case”. Looking out the window of a car on the way into the city from the airport, he noticed a child’s legs sticking out of the window of a passing vehicle and began to snap away. His photography ultimately led him to ignore the group’s itinerary and shoot every last roll of film he had with him.
The images of this foreign city often echo in patina and texture the streets of Abe’s native Osaka, which he so often photographs. I asked him how much of this was him and how much of it was the city itself; he said that although the two cities are about the same size, he feels that wherever he shoots- be it Pusan or even New York- it will somehow end up looking a little like Osaka.
When I’m shooting I’m half focused on portraying the commonalities of all cities. I suppose the remaining half is dedicated to the individuality of a particular city - its concrete structure, so to speak. But I’ve always felt that all cities have similar features, the same basic things and arrangements.
There are commonalities between the streets of Pusan and Osaka that can be felt in his pictures - they seem temporally connected as well. Beyond the shapes of the vehicles in the frames there is little to pinpoint precisely when these pictures were made. It could be 2002 or 1972. An investigation into the economic and cultural factors that prompt this feeling lies outside the scope of this review. That said, the book is a nice 28mm throwback to a kind of Classic Japanese Street Photography. Jun Abe fans - and there are many - should be pleased.