Yoshio MizoguchiObi and Sand : Kyoto / Enoshima

Shot in Kyoto and Enoshima in the 1990s and 2000s, Yoshio Mizoguchi's "Obi and Sand" presents snapshots of women and strangers against the backdrop of Kyoto and the mysterious air of its history in the first part, and the Pacific Ocean and sandy beaches of Enoshima in the second. Mizoguchi is a master of his craft: his snapshots effortlessly combine the documentary aspect of street photography with a lightness of being and a playful, erotic gaze.

“I saw countless people in bathing suits. Feet and buttocks covered in black sand, and bodies sticky with sweat—these sights jumped into my eyes through the camera lens. The sad was burning hot—I moved from one person to another on the sand as I spoke to them, but I rarely met anyone I liked. After the year 2000, the world got dull and I stopped going to Enoshima in the summer. Every year, the summer sea sadly fades away with memories of the hot sand.”
― from Yoshio Mizoguchi’s afterword