GAIJIN OMOIDE POROPORO HIKARI
A medium-format photo book with a plasticised orange-gold hardcover describes the protagonist’s search for identity through the deciphering of cultural symbols and linguistic ambiguities, which the reader experiences as an engaging challenge. The 120 photographs from a tripartite series of works by the Swiss-Japanese photographer David Favrod, which are placed individually on a right-hand page with plenty of white space, appear puzzling at first. There are found and heavily staged images, some digitally edited or painted or inscribed by hand. Titles are inserted into the images, which although suggestive of clear meanings are often so abstract that the connection to the content shown remains vague. Numerous comments at the end provide a partial explanation. They appear in large lettering, printed in reverse so that they must be made out through the slightly translucent paper. Favrod explains how he sought to reconstruct a Japanese identity from his location in Switzerland, drawing not just on family photos (he has a Swiss father and Japanese mother) but above all on wartime stories passed down by his grandparents from Kobe and on Japanese popular culture. It makes for poignant reading and sheds a new light on many of the pictures, as well as prompting readers to reflect on the cultural makeup of their own identity.
