Author(s): Brett Boardman (Photographer); Pico Iyer (Introduction by); Andrew Mackenzie (Editor)

Architecture

A limited edition volume of photographs by Australian photographer Brett Boardman, this large format volume consists of 42 sets of paired photographs captured in Kyoto in 2011, juxtaposing the 17th-century imperial villa Katsura Riky¿ with a makeshift shelter under a nearby bridge. In considering the relationship between Japanese architecture and Buddhism, Gropius writes of zazen - translated as seated meditation and the suspension of all judgment - and koan - a story or paradox designed to short-cut reason and the intellect, leading to direct realisation of a reality beyond thought. These ideas have informed the work presented here.Boardman's intimate photographic record of the apparently incidental adjacency of the villa and the shelter transcends the stark social and temporal disparity of these two structures, illuminating the ways that they echo each other in response to the human desire for tranquillity, order and dignity.The volume includes an introduction entitled 'Sunlight and Shade in Katsura' by essayist and novelist Pico Iyer.