Mēdeia2.0 ISSUE N˚03 Osamu Kanemura

Mēdeia2.0 is a publishing label launched as an offshoot of Project Mēdeia1.0, which was established to use fashion as a medium to spread awareness of events and social issues around the world captured by photographers both in Japan and abroad.

While Mēdeia1.0 confronts viewers with piercing truths, Mēdeia2.0 focuses on the ‘white space’ of thought and emotion, while also highlighting the new appeal of the photographs and works through sophisticated printing and book design.

The third issue features Osamu Kanemura, a Japanese photographer from Tokyo who has been selected as one of the ‘Six Photographers to Watch in the World’ by the photography department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1996, as well as receiving high praise both domestically and internationally, including the ‘Newcomer Award’ from the Japan Photographers Association and the ‘Domon Ken Award’.

"A city where humans cannot live. Perhaps this was the most extreme form of a city pursued by capitalism. Tokyo is accelerating toward becoming a city without humans. Both people and landscapes appear in the city as commodities. Photographing the city means photographing the ruins of commodities."

Osamu Kanemura

The book depicts the chaotic environment of Tokyo, where people and objects are commodified, through images of densely packed buildings, countless signs and advertisements on their facades, and the overhead power lines and poles supporting them.

It offers a glimpse into the face of Tokyo, a city dominated by commodified people and objects.