From her early works, Nakamura has focused on subjects that shimmer or move—light, water, and other transient phenomena—using bodily sensation and color perception to express her experience of the world. In addition to presenting moving-image works and alternative photographic projects at spaces such as Alternative Space 1 and 2, she has continued to develop her practice beyond the conventional boundaries of photography, participating in museum exhibitions with an ever-expanding scope of expression.
In recent years, the artist has drawn inspiration from pregnancy and childbirth, weaving together her daily life with her children and family, and the subtle sensations that arise from the flow of time, light, and color. Over more than a decade, these explorations have gradually coalesced into the body of work presented in this book.
These photographs emerged from within the shifting heart and body I have inhabited—
from the joy and anxiety of my first pregnancy, the birth and growth of my child,
the presence and loss of two beloved cats, and the light that filled our everyday life.
Centered on the themes of awakening and movement, this series is characterized by high contrast and fluctuating color temperature, evoking both clarity and uncertainty. Depicting her own child, two cats, and the intimate spaces of family life, Nakamura captures a quiet abstraction that transcends the domestic realm. At the same time, she speaks of these works as expressions of her wish to interlace her personal feelings with a universal blessing—for her own child, and for all the children who will come after.
In an anxious world, I long to see something hopeful.
I wish for our everyday lives, and for the futures of our children, to somehow continue.
As my child grows—seeing, feeling, and moving toward the light—
my family and I, too, will be carried along by that same current,
within a flow of time and emotion that must have continued since ancient days.
Holding this finely crafted, gold-embossed photobook in your hands, you will see the artist’s presence reflected on its cover—her figure faintly illuminated by the light that both reveals and conceals.
Like a small vessel carrying light forward, it invites you to open its pages and trace the quiet certainty of days lived alongside radiance, sensing in their depths the dawning of a new, luminous time.
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Author: Ayao Nakamura
Editor: Daisuke Morishita
Design: Ayao Nakamura
Design Supervision: Makoto Shoji, ebitai design
Size: 257 × 364 mm
Pages: 64 pages
Number of illustrations: 50 color photographs
Binding: Hardcover
First Edition: September 14, 2025 (200 copies)
ISBN 978-4-9914195-1-5
Price: ¥8000+tax