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【Leica Gallery Omotesando】Yusuke Abe Photo Exhibition: “Shanti Shanti”

2 August - 27 October 2024

Leica Camera Japan will be hosting a photo exhibition by the photographer Yusuke Abe at its Omotesando gallery.

 “Leica Gallery Omotesando” is Leica’s third official gallery in Japan, following the Leica Gallery Tokyo in Ginza and Leica Gallery Kyoto. The Omotesando gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the “Leica Omotesando Store”, Leica Camera Japan’s third flagship store which opened on April 12, 2024.

The exhibition will showcase a series of photographs depicting life in Varanasi, India. Even amid a changing cityscape and turbulent times, the everyday lives of the locals remain largely unchanged.

Image
Two girls staring at something in India.

 
Gazing out the airplane window when I fly over India now, it feels strange that the city lights are no longer orange but white as tungsten lighting is being replaced by LEDs. 

I still find myself venturing deep into the alleys of the city in search of other nostalgic memories.

In contrast to the changing cityscape, the lives and gaze of the people living there remain unchanged. 

Seeing children flying kites near the cremation grounds, people bathing in the Ganges River, or people in the alleys chatting over chai, somehow offers a sense of relief. 

I want to continue documenting the everyday lives of these people, who are living in turbulent times.
 

Yusuke Abe

Photographer. Born in Tokyo in 1989, Yusuke Abe graduated from the School of Business Administration at Aoyama Gakuin University. He started working as a photographer while still in university, traveling all over Europe and Asia. He has held several acclaimed photo exhibitions, including “Raimugi-batake ni kakomarete” (Surrounded by Rye Fields), highlighting issues of female forced labor in Nepal, and “Kiyoku, Utsukushiku, soshite Tsuyoku” (Pure, Beautiful and Strong), depicting the everyday lives of resident communities in Pakistan’s “Borderlands” (Pakistan’s frontier with Afghanistan). His first photobook, “Yosarikoi”, featuring Japan’s vibrant Yosakoi dance festival, was published in 2019. He has just released two new photobooks, “Relagaadee” and “Shanti Shanti”, in which he documents his train journey through India and life in the holy city of Varanasi.

https://www.yusukeabephoto.com
 

【Leica Gallery Omotesando】Yusuke Abe Photo Exhibition: “Shanti Shanti”
02/08/2024 - 27/10/2024
Leica Gallery Omotesando