From February 10th to the 22nd, members of The Darkroom will host their 12th photo exhibition at Gallery Cosmos in Tokyo. 
Every year at this time, I remember some advice given to me at a darkroom in Los Angeles: “If you want to open a darkroom, open a gallery, too. If you don’t, it’s like feeding somebody but not providing a toilet.”
In America at that time, a photographer’s status was determined by his/her darkroom membership. In New Yotk, darkrooms typically had private rooms so nobody could see each other’s work. But in Los Angeles, there were lots of big darkrooms where people had a good time. Most of the darkrooms also had galleries of various sizes. Members could exhibit their work there and speak their minds. Most likely because of the digital age, their numbers have declined, but I suspect that one’s darkroom membership still says a lot.
To return to the topic, this upcoming exhibition celebrates our fifteen-year anniversary. We’re going to step out of Yokohama for this one and split the show into two different teams, with each giving a talk on the Sundays. We’ll also have a surprise guest. Everyone is invited so please mark your calendar.
The photographer I’d like to introduce here has been exhibiting in the show for five years. Adachi Nagahisa’s work is like a third-floor café of a three-story building wedged in the city. It’s like when you’re looking down at the street and walk farther than you wanted. You look back, spot the cafe for the first time and think, “What’s that?” You venture in and it’s bright, quiet and comfortable. You stay awhile. The owner doesn’t talk much. It’s a sophisticated space you can enjoy all to yourself. That’s the feeling his work gives me.
The photos here are ones he snapped in Hidatakayama. Scenes from a bike tour there five years ago burned into his memory. He dreamed of returning to shoot it all in monochrome and these photos are the result of another trip. Nagahama’s black wattle walls are famous, but Hida’s Sanmachi-street with its black facades is just as impressive. Adachi strength and weakness is that his photographs emerge without any sort of punch. They are interesting whether you just glance at them or peer deeply. They don’t say, “Check this out”, “Isn’t this cool?” or “Yep, just like this.” His work is more like that quiet café owner.