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Aesthetic of Everyday Life: Junya Suzuki shows us why the Japanese prefer the mundane

Since ancient times, the Japanese have had a unique aesthetic referred to as "wabi-sabi". This generally means that they prefer the mundane over anything showy, quiet over noise and stillness over any movement. But street photographer Junya Suzuki believes all that is disappearing: "As time goes by, and as people become more and more superficial, they have lost touch with their aesthetic sense.

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A child in a blue shirt walks across a paved plaza holding flowers, passing a tree and modern buildings in a quiet, minimalist urban landscape.

"One day, I found a common point in photos I captured. That's the quietness. I may unconsciously feel an aesthetic sense like 'wabi-sabi' in the environment which keeps creating, destroying and changing all the time. Nothing is permanent in this world. And we know life is not endless. That's why I suspect that we can have a feeling of existing together in harmony."

Through his series, Junya seeks to find that "wabi-sabi" feeling in everyday life. Born in Japan in 1979, he began taking photographs in 2009 and is today based in Kanagawa and Tokyo, Japan. His style focuses on daily life with a touch of surrealism and humour. Discover more at www.junya-suzuki.com.

All images courtesy of Junya Suzuki

A makeshift cart sits in an overgrown field scattered with tools and debris, with modern high-rise buildings looming in the distant skyline under a cloudy sky
A child crouches beside a concrete planter with purple flowers and green foliage, tending to the plants in a public park beneath a large concrete pillar.
Wet courtyard with colourful sculptural figures scattered across the pavement, a tall chimney, residential building and trees in the background on an overcast day
Child crouching in muddy puddles beneath large trees in an urban residential area
Corrugated metal structure decorated with painted giraffe and animal figures, surrounded by sparse vegetation and an excavator under clear sky
Industrial port with stacked shipping containers, railway tracks and construction site under grey sky
A person stands on a vast green lawn dotted with clusters of pink flowering shrubs, with a row of grey apartment towers rising behind them
A person with a yellow umbrella sits on a sandy beach whilst red and white construction cranes tower behind them over a partially built structure.
A football pitch with white markings under an overcast sky, with tall floodlights, a small clubhouse and industrial structures visible beyond the pitch perimeter
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