Taro Okamoto’s photographs do not merely capture subjects that can be seen with the eye. They penetrate the true essence of phenomena to the deep origins of existence.
He possessed a shamanistic nature.
He was able to perceive a sense of mystery in common objects that made him shudder.
Masatoshi Naito is a scholar of ethnology, a man of religion who underwent training as a mountain aesthetic and also an accomplished photographer. He was captivated by Taro Okamoto’s photographs and asked to be allowed to print the negatives, locking himself away in the darkroom as he relived the moments that Taro had released the shutter on his camera, forgetting even to eat or sleep.
It is a rare collaboration, an event that will live on in photographic history.