Jun Morinaga - River, its shadows of shadows

An amazing book of photographs of river waters, taken by the photographer who was assistant to W. Eugene Smith in Japan in 1961 & 1962. These images were taken by Morinaga from 1960 to 1963. He established his own studio in 1969. In his introduction, Smith writes in part: "The photographs in this book contain no actual human beings. Yet, to me, these photographs hauntingly seethe with undercurrents of the damnation factors of our times. To appreciate them the viewer must break any narrowness of traditional recognitions.It is an experience worth the effort.There are few photographs that profoundly move me, that change my life. Jun Morinaga's photographs did both. Many months after Jun was working with me, he sat on the floor and we tried to converse. He spoke that "You are the master, what can I do to improve my photographs?" And I replied with all the sincerity of my being -- "In what you do you are the master -- I only wish I could photograph as well." Quoted in "Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s", p. 218-219. — Testi: Smith W.Eugene, Morinaga Jun et al. F.to: 28x30,5; 89 BN; rileg. rigida con cofanetto. Editore: Yugensha, Tokyo, 1978.