The Faces of Places by Takatoshi Masuda

Issue 95

The Face of Places features Japanese landscapes that I photograph from the local train windows.

In Japan, the train system that covers most of the country is a highly reliable and essential transportation for ordinary people. Nevertheless, I was yearning to ride a train in my childhood as no train was running on my home island. After I moved to the city later, I naturally started photographing the landscapes from the trains.

When I look at the huge amounts of images I collected, I got an idea of digitally overlaying them in the post-production process so that I can extract the essence of the landscapes. As a result of trial and error, using roughly 10 images that were shot sequentially was the best to beautifully encapsulate a certain time and distance.

The Face of Places now consists of two parts - ‘City' and ‘Countryside' of Japan. I am planning to extend this project to other parts of the world so that I would be able to showcase the contrast of regional characteristics on a global scale.

Takatoshi Masuda lives and works in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. 
To view more of Takatoshi's work, please visit his website.