CASE TOKYO is proud to announce its upcoming Toshiya Murakoshi solo exhibition A Gradual Thaw, open from November 25 until December 22. Three large panoramic works, taken by Murakoshi between 2011 and 2015, will be on display in addition to two new photobook publications, A gradual thaw and What is the Distance to the Moon?. Artefacts from the books’ development process - dummies, test prints - will allow a rare look at the interplay of photography, book design, printing technology and bookbinding, and how these individual parts of the creation process worked to create these two publications.

In 2016, Tokyo-based Toshiya Murakoshi chose to focus on his home city of Sukagawa in Fukushima Prefecture as the subject of his photography. In the quiet, powerful landscapes surrounding his birth town, Murakoshi searches for and traces his own memories and past experiences. The Great East Japan earthquake in 2011 was the cause for an inner conflict regarding his desire to take photographs. The two photobooks are born on the rise and descent of Murakoshi’s sentiments.

"I have taken the photographs for the series "A Gradual Thaw" in my home prefecture of Fukushima between the years 2011 and 2015. The photographs in “Whistle at the Moon” were shot between 2004 and 2005 in various areas of Japan, chosen at random while traversing the country on train and foot.

If to photograph one’s hometown means ridding yourself of the ideas and objects acquired at birth and chasing after whatever is left at the very end, then to photograph different regions is an attempt to find and acquire new things, ideas and interest and try and see how far this process can lead.

Two series from important crossroads in my life will be published at the same time. One series is from the period when I had just started photography, the other from the period when I decided to pursue photography further. To me, it feels like I am at another important crossroad in my life again." ー Toshiya Murakoshi's statement for this exhibition