雪国 - Yukiguni: Honshu Winter Studies

There is a saying in the outdoor community: never leave good powder skiing to find good powder skiing. Same goes for good waves, good fishing, good climbing, you get the idea. Because, why travel halfway around the world when we who live in the Pacific Northwest are already sitting on a gold mine of fresh snow on any given winter's day? While Japan certainly delivers on the deep powder promise more often than not, so does Mount Baker, Crystal Mountain, and even our brave Snoqualmie Pass. So, if it's not the snow, what's the point? Why have I traveled there five times, with hopes of many more?

 It's the magic of yukiguni.

Yukiguni—snow country—defines the regions of Japan where Siberian winds cross the Sea of Japan and release some of the heaviest snowfall on earth. Over five winters in the mountains of central Honshu, these photographs explore the delicate graphicism that emerges from extreme conditions.

The mountains near Hakuba and Myoko embody a striking juxtaposition: a delicate, graphic simplicity in the undulating foothills and the seeming fragility of resident flora like birch and bamboo, colliding with a savagery apparent in the rugged high alpine regions and the near-constant storms that batter these mountains with incredible amounts of snow and wind. This is winter as both architect and eraser, where violence becomes sculptor and storms leave behind only the essential.

Working in black and white, these images distill the alpine environment to its essential elements—line, texture, negative space—revealing the quiet geometry that remains when excess is stripped away, leaving only a silencing blanket of snow.

But what of the traveler? We greedily feast on this bounty of endless powder, but the ample fresh snow each night calms the frenzy, so that gradually we are more inspired to pause in reflection at moments of quiet beauty. Cultural elements begin to soak in. We may be inclined to speak more softly, or consider our words and thoughts more carefully. We take time to soak in the healing waters of the ubiquitous onsen baths throughout the region. We partake in beautifully prepared meals, featuring simple food which revives the body and spirit. And here, too, in the travel experience, we find juxtapositions: charging through deep powder followed by quiet, restful evenings in peaceful settings. Ebbing and flowing, yin and yang, or as the Japanese say, 'inyo'.

After many cycles of waking early, chasing storms all day, celebrating, resting and restoring each evening, we, too, are stripped to our most basic form. In yukiguni we find a perfect balance where that great aspiration can be met: that of a simple, but satisfying life.

雪国 - Yukiguni: Honshu Winter Studies 

Opens @ Scott Rinckenberger Gallery 

Friday, Dec 5th - 5 - 9pm

Please join us !