If I had posted about these books earlier you’d probably get more information about them, but unfortunately it’s been a few weeks since I bought them and so all that I can remember from my conversation with the owner of Roonee is this:
1. These books are printed somewhat regularly by a group of 10 photographers in Tokyo.
2. They use a very cheap printer located in Nakano.
3. They produce these books under the fictional name of a single made-up photographer.
4. Despite that the names of the actual photographers are listed at the end of each issue, no individual photo is specified to any particular creator.
5. They are titled by the date they are published- hence the whiter top one is 080208 and the lower, darker one is 070707.
6. I think that the group is called Orinokimi. Not sure though.
Roonee has several of their issues available for sale in their shop (you can see the front of the lower one in the pictures above on their site), and at 1000 yen apiece they are quite affordable. I’ve actually only seen them at Roonee, but the last photo in this post lists all of the other shops and galleries where these books/zines are stocked.
I like how basic these books are and how they feel in the hand. The construction is simple with 12 sheets of 210 × 594 paper stapled twice and folded in half to make a 24 page A4 sized book. The cover stock is identical to what is used for the insides and the print quality is close to what one would get from a early photocopier. The offset print look works for the imagery- and with the stray animals, back alleys, and flowers one might be reminded of work by (wait for it . . . . . . ) Moriyama Daido among others.
I would not say that these books are groundbreaking in any way by anyone’s standards, but I don’t know that every work of art has to attempt to harken in a new age for it’s particular medium. Personally I prefer the books published by Vacuum Press in Osaka for a variety of reasons- both in content and creation, but the Orinokimi collections are important in that they’re decent physical creations- a tangible experience made by people interested in getting their photos onto paper.
