EXHIBITION

25th April - 13th May 2024

BLR: Brooklyn Lot RecordingsYasuyuki Takagi

"Brooklyn Lot Recordings" are recordings of empty lots. -At first glance, they appear to be unused spaces devoid of people, but in fact, people like me, homeless people, and animals come and go as they please. There is freedom. Plants return to a wild state and grow to tree height at an incredible speed. But one day, all of a sudden, a space like that disappears. Even if you happen to pass by it, you cannot even remember what used to be there. Even if you remembered, the memories of an empty space would seem to you as events of your own imagination. The beauty I wanted to capture appeared there, only for a brief moment, and then disappeared.

-Yasuyuki Takagi

Takagi's journey to the world of photography started when he moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1993.Driven by a deep curiosity to explore new environments, he began a long-term project called Brooklyn Lot Recordings, which evolved and continued to fascinate him until 2005.
The tragedy of 9/11 initiated the gentrification of Brooklyn as people from Manhattan settled there. The gentrification of the poorer residential areas by the wealthy brought fundamental changes to Brooklyn.
At that time, he became acutely aware of photography's remarkable ability to preserve the essence and spirit of a place for future generations.

And now, more than 20 years later, this photo series has been revived in the form of a photo book entitled "Brooklyn Lot Recordings."
This book is a testament to the enduring power of photography, and proves that photography captures an era and carries the essence of a place into the distant future. more