All

Roads Lead To Edo

Tokaido ( 東海道), Eastern Sea Route, was the main road in japan during the Edo or Tokugawa period (1603-1868) which, running alonside the Pacific Ocean, connected the cultural imperial capital of Kyoto with the political economic centre on Edo (modern-day Tokyo), the seat of the Shogun. Along this road there where fifty-three post stations and, at regular intervals, checkpoints to control the passengers and goods. An invitation to join an official procession to Kyoto in 1832 gave the painter Utagawa Hiroshige, the opportunity to travel along the Tokaido and sketched the scenery along the way. He later produced "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido", which includes come of his most well-known prints. Hiroshige, who is recognised as a master of ukiyo-e woodblock printing tradition, is also considered to be one of the greatest Japanese landscape artists. All Roads Lead to Edo came to life thanks to the strong impact that "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" had on me. During my trips following the Tokaido statiuons from Tokyo to Kyoto, freely drawing inspiration by Hiroshige's paintings, I tried to breathe new life into the atmosphere of the original prints through my own photographic vision. My project does not wish to draw a comparison between "now" and "then", nor to merely document the current state of the Tokaido, but it was rather conceived with the intent of sharing the emotions and feelings that these places can inspire.