Does the above shot of Japan's Mount Fuji look familiar? That's intentional. Taken by Bristol-based photographer Charles Emerson, the picture is a modern-day recreation of the 18th-century ukiyo-e (woodcut) art responsible for some of Japan's best-known imagery.
"I wanted to pay homage to Hiroshige, a woodcut master," says Emerson, 34, "while trying to create a new kind of photography."
Emerson, whose photographs often play with layers and multiple exposures, shot the Ichi Yama ("One Mountain") project over the course of three weeks. Each photograph builds upon the Japanese concept of meisho - the inclusion of references to landmarks associated with other artworks or literature, just as Hiroshige did with his prints.
In ukiyo-e, prints are built up in layers on paper; ink is applied using intricate woodcut blocks. Emerson, using a 5 x 4-inch slide camera, similarly built up the images over multiple exposures, "overlaying elements of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture," he says.
First, he captured dozens of frames of the mountain. The contemporary scenes, from roller coasters to neon street lamps, were then shot in low light over the top, to avoid overexposure. "I would have to shoot cherry blossoms with a flashlight, so I could just pick that out," Emerson says.
Several pieces in Ichi Yama play on Hiroshige works; in another, a tsunami defence wall references Hokusai's famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa. "I found it interesting we've had to build a concrete wave to block the real waves," says Emerson. The series will be shown in Shizuoka, Japan in November.
"I wanted to use Fujifilm," Emerson says. "It would almost have been rude not to."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
