hagi, then and now
a photographic exhibition
part 1: 1980
“In 1980 I spent five weeks in the small, secluded city of Hagi, Japan. Nominally I was there to evoke the antiquity of the city and tell the story of its most famous citizen, Yoshida Shoin Sensei, a revolutionary, patriot and teacher.
But I fell under the spell of Japan itself. By that I mean the Japanese manner of daily living—the way fish were sorted, the way money was counted, the everyday ordering of things. There was an innate-seeming aesthetic to Japanese life that I admired and identified with.
That aesthetic was no where more sustained than at the Tomoe, the small traditional inn where I stayed. Every morning I left the Tomoe in search of the essential Japan. But there was no real reason to do so. The Japan I was seeking was within its wooden walls.”
- Sam Abell
Sam Abell, 1980, Tomoe Ryokan
In autumn of 1980 Abell was given the assignment to photograph the historic city of Hagi and its role in the Meiji Restoration. During that time he was deeply impacted by the beauty of everyday Japanese life and culture and has since carried that Japanese quiet sensibility with him in his life and photography. We hope that this exhibition speaks to the power of photography as a medium that not only serves a purpose as a form of documentation, but seeks to elevate “daily life” into art. The idea for this exhibition is to spur the viewer into dialogue between the two eras in a “conversation.” Ultimately our common goal is to showcase the beauty of Hagi’s landscape and warm people, and we dedicate this exhibition to them.
Fragment of a walk-through of Hagi, Then and Now filmed by George Nobechi on the day of the exhibition’s inauguration in 2019 (music by Nanae Yoshimura from The Art of Koto Vol. 1)
audio section
Press play on the audio of your choice to listen to Sam describe his photographs in depth to George. Click on each image to see it in full size while you listen.
part 2: Return to hagi
In 2016 Abell returned to Hagi for the first time with George Nobechi. In 2017 he had a major retrospective exhibition of his work from 1980 in Hagi at the Meirin Center and led a concurrent workshop with a mix of international and local Hagi photographers. And in 2019 he returned to Hagi once more as part of a three-photographer train journey with colleagues Arthur Meyerson and George Nobechi that began in Wakkanai and culminated in Hagi.
This section of the exhibition features brand new works by both Abell and Nobechi as they revisit many of the places Abell explored in 1980.
During his return journeys to Hagi in 2016, 2017 and 2019, Abell connected with the relatives of various figures whom he photographed in 1980. Among them: the grandson of the twelfth-generation, “living national treasure” Hagi Yaki potter, the son of an antique dealer, the couple he photographed at their wedding, the lady owner of the new Tomoe Inn (Sam had stayed at the old Tomoe Inn in 1980)and, most touchingly, the daughter of one of the two women whom he photographed at an old street corner in Hagi. A chance encounter at the same corner in 2016, and the moment where the woman tells Abell and Nobechi that the person on the right is her mother are depicted in a series of photographs made by Nobechi on one panel of this exhibition. A subsequent visit in 2019 resulted in a new connection with her own daughter, and now the link with the family spans three generations.
audio section
part 3: The Episode at Hiyako Kaimagari Corner
Hagi’s Kaimagari Corner in Hiyako Town is quite famous within Japan, having appeared on numerous ads and billboards. But back in 1980, it was Sam’s favorite place to visit whenever he felt homesick. For a *compose and wait* photographer, there was no better setting than this. Whenever he headed to the corner, Sam had a *good feeling that something was going to happen there.” Just about this time of year (in November), right around sunset, Sam was at the corner as usual. He watched as two women walked arm in arm down the street to the corner. There, they said goodbye. One of the two women said something funny. They laughed, and one woman grabbed the other’s arm. Sam captured that moment. Then the women parted. Sam walked right up to the corner to find that one woman was standing near the wall, arms clasped behind her back, making sure that her friend got home safely. Sam captured that moment, too. These two photographs are famous worldwide among Sam’s fans.They are lauded for the way they captured a loving friendship between two women. Fast forward to November of 2016. Sam, his friend from America Skip Klein, George and his mother, from Hokkaido, headed to the corner. George composed the scene that he wanted, and stood ready. Just after sunset, a lone woman came walking by. She turned at the corner, walking away. She had a shopping bag. Something about her seemed like she knew that area. George’s mother called out to her:
“Excuse me. Do you have a moment?”
“Yes,” came the reply.
“Do you know the women in this photograph?”
She pointed at the woman on the right: “That is my mother.”
And so we met Ms. Satoko Sono for the first time. The other woman in the photograph was her mother’s best friend who liveddown the street. They saw each other almost every day. This lady’s family has long since moved away. In 2017 we invited her and her son from Fukuoka as our special guests to Sam’s exhibition. In 2019 we paid Ms. Sono a visit once again. This time, her daughter was visiting and we met her, too. And a new photograph of Hagi’s famous corner was born. This time, Sam was the one receiving the farewell greeting. The image is a fitting way to end the exhibition.
AUDIO SECTION
In this series of recordings Sam and George have a conversation about the Hiyako Kaimagari Corner episode. They can be listened to individually, with each photograph, or as a whole.
behind the scenes
Exhibition’s inauguration, 2019
sam in hagi
photographers’ profiles
ONLINE OPENING
july 30, 2020
On July 30, 2020 Sam and George hosted "An Evening in Hagi," a virtual reception and Q&A in support of the online exhibition. If you are unable to watch this video due to its privacy setting and would like to view it, please send an email to info@nobechicreative.com with the words “Hagi Video Permission” in the subject.