Sunday, January 03, 2010

Marginal Land.








Marginal Land. Photographs and text by Mikio Umino. toseisha, tokyo, 2007. Unpaged, 81 color illustrations., 8½x10½".

"In May 2006, Mikio Umino went out for a trip to Mongolia for three weeks. Driving through the dry land for a few hours gives the impression one is not going anywhere different; the same view repeats outside the window.

There is a lot of literature and poetry from Mongolia that is based on 'the road', with the stories developing as the character continues their journies on a road. People become involved in many things, such as falling in love or having a fight - anything that takes place on the path of life.

The magnificent landscapes captured in Umeno's photographs do not include people, making the sceneries, the road and the surrounding nature itself into the subject matter.

A slight sense of hope can be seen in these barren natural landscapes."

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