Primal Mountain Yuji Hamada

At first glance, the photographs in this collection appear to be majestic mountain landscapes. However, one soon realizes that these "mountains" are actually constructed from common, everyday materials found in our immediate surroundings.

As Hamada explored his recurring themes of "truth and fiction" and "the visible versus the invisible"—particularly in the wake of his experiences following the Great East Japan Earthquake—he received a postcard of a mountain from a friend. Struck by a sense of artificiality amidst the postcard’s beauty, he began to question whether the image truly represented a "mountain." This curiosity led to the birth of Primal Mountain.

What is it that leads us to recognize the mass before our eyes as a "mountain"? In this work, the experience of our brains instinctively perceiving these "constructed" landscapes as natural scenery becomes a surprisingly pleasant sensation.