Somehow In Between

Published by Neat Paper, a book label organized by the Tokyo bookstore BOOK AND SONS, Somehow In Between is a photobook by Japanese photographer Yuki Kumagai (b. 1988, Shizuoka Prefecture). Today, Kumagai works at the forefront of commercial and fashion photography—shooting for leading publications such as Vogue Japan and GINZA, as well as runway photography for Dior—following his Grand Prix win at the 6th “1_WALL” Photography Competition in 2012, his debut solo exhibition Some Mura, and an apprenticeship under photographer Osamu Yokonami before becoming independent in 2016. Alongside his commercial career, he has garnered high acclaim for his delicate, poetic personal works woven from light and shadow.

The roots of this personal practice date back to 2010 when, at the age of 22, Kumagai began taking photographs following the death of his mother. Photography served as a way for him to come to terms with the helplessness and grief he felt as he watched her pass away, and as a means of keeping her presence alive within himself.

Somehow In Between presents fragments of light, shadow, the body, landscapes, interiors, and an indescribable atmosphere. These images—blurred, wavering, and on the verge of losing their contours—do not tell a clear narrative; rather, they quietly bring to the surface memories of a person we can no longer touch and the time that must have once existed there.

Viewing the world while carrying the weight of his mother’s absence, and passing those fragments on to someone else through photography—for Kumagai, taking photographs is an act of continuing to seek out evidence of his mother’s life within the world. This book chronicles how a gaze that began with personal loss opens up to others through light and memory.