Andri Pol: Where is Japan

European visions of Japan are dominated by clichés such as the cherry blossom, the temples, the samurai, the geisha, and Zen. But this has more to do with European longings and utopian ideals than with today’s Japan. The photographer Andri Pol has visited the Japanese Islands over many years and he has taken pictures strictly avoiding any such soft-focus clichés.

Fascinated and irritated at the same time, Pol casts a sharp eye on the reality of Japan beyond European projections of the Far East. Even though he can’t completely avoid the cherry blossom and the tea rites, he encounters human beings who have learned to live between yesterday and tomorrow – masters of the profane. He finds beauty within the everyday life of modern Japan.