Tracks of the City Shin Yanagisawa

This is a reprint of a photobook originally published in 1979 as Shin Yanagisawa's first collection, featuring works capturing Tokyo between 1965 and 1970, right in the midst of the period of rapid economic growth. It documents the "transitional time and space" of the city, shaken by the waves of "scrap-and-build," where old streets were demolished and new structures rose.

Yanagisawa maintained the consistent stance that "photography needs no words," rejecting sentimentality and narrative. He soberly observed the very structure and accumulation of time within the city. Through meticulously composed frames and a quiet tone, he brings to light the strength and fragility of the changing metropolis, emphasizing its "form" and "aura."

His singular perspective—which belongs neither to the Provoke movement nor the Compora style—is the essence of Shin Yanagisawa himself. This work is a monument of urban photography that deserves renewed critical acclaim today.