Ten Disciples — Tsutomu Yamagata 山縣勉 — Zen Foto Gallery — 2015

Facing his father’s cancer while becoming a father himself, Yamagata began visiting Tamagawa Onsen in Akita, a remote volcanic valley where cancer patients expose themselves to naturally radioactive rocks and geothermal heat. Bodies lying among stone and sulphurous steam reminded him of Buddhist images of Nirvana and its ten disciples. Made on grainy 35mm film, the photographs resist clinical documentation, turning illness, mortality and the possibility of renewal into an impressionistic landscape.

Technical Sheet
Title: Ten Disciples
Artist / Author: Tsutomu Yamagata 山縣勉
Date: 2015
Edition: First edition, limited to 300 copies
Signed: Yes
Medium / Materials: Softcover
Dimensions: 26 × 17 cm
Pages: 24, 22 images
Publisher: ZEN FOTO TOKYO