As a small child coming home to an empty house, the long walk from the doorway to my room proved a terrifying prospect, and to abate those fears I would leave toys and comics strewn about the house. Still, being at home was scary, so I would wander around the neighbourhood playing until my parents came home from work, thinking how wonderful it would be if the grass and the tiny critters I encountered could speak like they do in my comic books.
Tokyo-based photographer Hiroyuki Takenouchi's The Fourth Wall takes its title from the invisible wall separating the action of a play from its real-life audience. The title speaks to the loneliness of Takenouchi's gaze — pictures of small animals, suburban landscapes and quiet moments which are flooded with colour and light. Published by T&M Projects (Tokyo).
130 page, 25 x 18 cm, hardcover, T&M Projects (Tokyo).