Each bookstore will act as a concierge, recommending "the book you should read now" to FASHION HEADLINE readers. Every Saturday, we will introduce books selected by Shelf (3-7-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a bookstore in Harajuku/Gaienmae that specializes in foreign books.



■ "Photographs" Jack Davison

This book is a collection of works by British artist Jack Davison, bringing together as a series the results of his ongoing experiments with images, which he has been producing since 2007. Self-taught photographer Jack Davison follows his instincts and instincts as a painter would paint a picture, unearthing the surreal and sensual buried in the everyday. His unique and masterful approach makes full use of chiaroscuro, an expressive technique that adds depth to an image by emphasizing light and dark, and photography's ability to obscure or reveal hidden meanings. His images, like an inverted, submerged world, reveal crisp, clear details only to disappear like a mirage, like a swinging pendulum. Characterized by intense shadows and tight framing, this film is permeated with an unmistakably cinematic aesthetic. Each layered image provokes associations, stretching the imagination far beyond the actual context. Although he has been gaining public attention in recent years, his modest and all-embracing approach remains unchanged. In this book, he captures the simple essence of everyday life, subtly shifting from meticulously staged and edited set-ups to images imbued with mystery and deeper meaning.


Hands and eyes are recurring motifs in the artist's images. These two motifs appear throughout the work: a clenched fist, a hand caressing a face, an eye glaring from a billboard, or an eye sparkling through a mirror. They symbolize the powerful tension between seeing and feeling, between perception and imagination.

In this book, a meticulous sequence of enigmatic portraits, landscapes, and still lifes portraying the world as seen through the artist's eyes floats between these opposing states, creating a complex and emotionally charged worldview.