Looking for the Mountain

“Looking for the Mountain” by Japanese photographer Kyoko Kawano. It is impossible to capture the whole of a mountain in a single photograph; perhaps it is impossible to capture the whole of a mountain no matter how many photographs one takes. In her foreword, Kyoko Kawano outlines that she became obsessed with climbing mountains once she reached her forties. “Why was I so fascinated with mountains? I don’t know the exact reason why,” she continues. Her images capture the beauty of the mountains and hint at the quasi-religious awe and fascination that Kawano—and perhaps the Japanese people as a whole—feel towards mountains. The photographs tell of details as well as magnificent sights. What is Kawano looking to find in the mountains? It cannot be caught in photographs. But her photographs capture why she kept on looking in the first place.