LIM

Photographs have the uncommon ability to dredge up some of the ancient institutions that have been bequethed to us. In this medium, ruins and remains continue to function as a great source of desire and imagination in regard to the image. The Necropolis, a city of the dead constructed on the outskirts of ancient Rome, and the pre-Christian catacombs, are photographic subjects that are representative of such ruins and remains. They take us on a trip that transcends our own time and place.

-Excerpt, Shino Kuraishi The Contemporary Necropolis

Taiji Matsue's most recent publication LIM, engages viewers in the landscape and subject matter of the cemetary. Capturing various graveyards in the regions of Europe, Latin America, North America, East Asia, Oceania and the Middle East; Taiji Matsue's LIM brings together a photographic reflection alluring to both life and death. Here amongst the countless graveyards, all distincly organised and marked by stone and structure is a visual remnant which provides viewers the opportunity to delve into the sites which serve as emblems, symbolizing a persons existence. The myriad of arrangements, ornaments and designs of the gravesites parallel that of the social structures of each the city locales, commenting upon the meanings and signs which communicate a relationship between the living and dead.

Included within the publication is an essay by Photographic Historian Shino Kuraishi, The Contemporary Necropolis. Text available in both Japanese and English.