Illuminance is a series by Rinko Kawauchi about focusing on the tiny gestures and details throughout our day to day lives. She explores the extraordinary in the insignificant things that we would normally ignore or not even notice. All her images within her series contain this spiritual, unique style that she creates effortlessly. She has a feminine touch that you can see in the soft, pastel colours throughout the book. The photobook, Illuminance was published in 2011 and costs £40 to purchase. The form and functions of the book is the first thing we think about when seeing the book.  It is produced as a cloth bound book using Japanese binding to hold it together. The book has a material texture too it because of the use of the cloth cover. This effect makes the book much more interesting because the cloth cover creates a rough texture for the hand to touch and feel. It gives the brain something extra to think about. The book is big and heavy to pick up because it contains hundreds of images by Kawauchi. The pages within the book are thick which improves the quality of the book and makes it feel and look more professional.

The book contains a spiritual and sublime aesthetic that runs throughout the whole series. Each image links to the next somehow. They flow in a sequence that symbolises a story or narrative that Kawauchi is trying to create. The images are about day to day events so the narrative Kawauchi is capturing could be in the time period of a day. She could be using the series of images to symbolise a series of events throughout a day. The images flow really well and link together in a good way because of the use of shape and colour. The pastel colours within each image is highlighted. Although some of the images presented next to each other are contrasting, its the contrast within them that works well together, such as the light and shadow and the line compared the circular shape.

Rinko Kawauchi has  a very contemporary approach to her work. She breaks the rules within photography and creates her own unique perspective of the world. She has an unusual way of framing and she also uses symmetry and patterns to add to her complex series. Her images are very bright and contain a feminine touch which is delicate. As a viewer of the photobook I can tell that Kawauchi adds her own personality and emotion into each image.

Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer and I believe you can see this in her work. Japan is a very spiritual culture and they care a lot for the body and soul. They view things very differently to the western world. Everything is seen to contain a spirit and an element of beauty, no matter how insignificant it is. When looking through the photobook I can see Kawauchi’s point if view and imagine looking at the image through her mind. She sees more then just a tree or a reflection. She sees remarkable beauty. I think the name Illuminance suits this series really well because it is a word we would use to describe something bright, and something radiating beauty. This is how she describes the objects and scenes she’s captured.

After researching more about the photo book illuminance I came across an article by lens culture about Rinko Kawauchi and her many series such as ‘Search for the Sun’, and Illuminance. The article contains a paragraph describing the series. “Inspired by the subtle aesthetic of wabi-sabi—a philosophy of reduction, modesty and the beauty of imperfection—these luminous images offer an enchanting gaze on the world around us.”  Wabi Sabi is the name of my project which ties in well with my whole theme and research because Kawauchi herself was also inspired by the aesthetic Wabi Sabi.