1. Nobuyoshi Araki, A World of Girls, Byakuya Shobo, 1984
(Image from Self, Life, Death (2005)
2. Shinjuku Gyoen, Shinjuku, Tokyo, December 2020
Some time ago I read that Araki shot the original photograph in Shinjuku Gyoen, a large Japanese garden in Shinjuku. I figured this rephoto was going to be as simple as finding the big rock next to the pond. The thing is, this place has a lot of ponds- most with large rocks lining their banks- and I walked around every single one, looking for the right rock and a willow tree.
Considering if you’ve got a medium format camera setup, assistants, and an 11 year old girl in a full kimono, you (Araki, then) probably not going to hike deep into the park’s furthest reaches. Making my way across the park from the far end I spent an hour looking at rocks and trees, only to discover this spot near a bridge just a short walk from the main entrance.
My main interest in Tokyo rephotos isn’t really about the photographers- it’s about being forced into looking for/at things I normally wouldn’t consider. There’s a heightened awareness in doing this- usually overlooked details there in the real world come to the fore. It’s not simply “rocks and trees” because it comes to be willows and all sorts of rocks- as I look there’s the recognition of time passing and the fact that even this traditional park gets remodeled every once in a whle. The freshness of the wood in the bridge here suggests a recent update and that’s defintitnely not the same rock as seen in the original image. The “new” rock is wider and flatter than the one there when Araki made this photograph in the early 1980s. I also thought about how this girl is likely 50 years old now.
WRONG.
I was wrong.
So, I thought this spot had been redone- as if the park had people who moved rocks around- but I recently discovered that the location I originally settled on was wrong. What I re-photoed above was the wrong rock and the wrong willow tree. That rock this girl sat on is still there- it was the willow that had disappeared.
The clue was this picture- taken on the same park visit- that appeared in the December 1978 issue of Camera Mainichi:
Not only did this date the image more accurately (I thought the photo was from the 1980s, not the late 70s), it showed a better view of this pond in Shinjuku Gyoen.
I headed back to the park- and, using the large stone lantern in the background, found the right angle.
There was the rock- and the stump of the willow tree that appeared in Araki’s photograph. The crevices and curves of the rock are the same.
I was unable to get closer this time. Shinjuku Gyoen’s got a lot more “stay off the grass” signs and low fences along the paths than they did in the 1970s.
So what’s this all mean?
Not much!
But, it’s interesting and gives me both stuff to think about and a reason to go out.
At the same time it’s an reason to look closely at photographs, the world, and time itself.
