Seen: CITY CONFESSIONS TOKYO
Who: Ed Templeton website / instagram
Where: Super Labo Store Tokyo, Jimbocho
When: August 2 - September 2, 2019 (Open 1-7pm. Closed Mondays)
CITY CONFESSIONS TOKYO」is the first entry in an ongoing series focusing on Ed Templeton’s experiences and photos taken in particular cities around the world. Both the book and exhibition feature photographs from Ed’s visits to Tokyo- the first of which was in 1998.
I’ve written a bit already on this book- here’s an excerpt from a longer piece of yet unpublished writing:
What I like about Ed is how gives everything and everyone he’s around a chance. He’s “real” in a way that most people are afraid to let themselves be. He’s got that rare strain of open-mindedness that’s fueled by honest curiosity, not an appeal to virtue.
The combination of a ready camera and an open mind creates the potential to take pictures like Ed’s- - ones that demonstrate acceptance of how a
particular thing or person at a moment was, and not how they ought to be.
The physicality of Ed’s work is celebrated in this show. Prints are often painted and written upon- he does this thing where the image is cut/torn from the full sheet of paper and window-matted just ever so close to the edge.
Exhibited simeotaneously at Super Labo are a limited edition series of Ed’s illustrations/screenprints titled “Stray Thoughts Girls” and a charming series of Instax Square shots by Deanna Templeton titled Yesterday. These pictures have been published by Super Labo in zine-form, too. The print quality is outstanding- it’s rare for any instant photo to be reproduced this well.
Both Ed’s and Deanna’s new (and older!) Super Labo books are available in the gallery or online via the Super Labo website.