Atmos

Description

Published in association with Joy of Giving Something, Inc., New York. Hatakeyama’s color work is marked by two overarching qualities. The first is a studious quality where the careful compositions and richness of detail associated with large format photography lend the work an impressive formal rigour. Complementing this formality is an attraction to the visual dynamics of industry and production. The two groupings of photographs in Atmos were made in 2003 on the Camargue plain where the Rhône River reaches the Mediterranean Sea in the south of France. The first grouping, bound on the right hand side of the book, reflects the serene wilderness typical of the Camargue. The second group were made on the grounds of a steel factory located on the eastern edge of the delta. During the steel making process, twenty tons of water are poured over the redhot coke, releasing an immense steam cloud which is visible every few minutes. “The etymology of ‘atmosphere’ is the ancient Greek words for vapor (atmos) and sphere (sphaira). Once I learned this, the air that filled the Camargue and the steam from the steel factory seemed to fuse into one before my eyes. It no longer felt strange to see signs of humanity in the sky and the land, nor to sense nature in the cloud of steam from the factory.”— Naoya Hatakeyama