Coming up for Air

Coming up for Air is the result of Stephen Gill's long-term photographic body of work made in Japan between 2008 and 2009. The images were created in Japan, but are not essentially about that country; rather, they convey a reaction to our times. Gill's photographs create a chance to since into a kind of fictional aquatic world that not only amounts to an aesthetic delight but also somehow leaves you gasping for breath. The book is made up of faint and barely audible traces from the real world - 'Imagine holding your breath and putting your fingers in your ears to mute the turbulence of the modern world.' Unlike other well-known series by Gill, this collection features images whose information has been starved or completely denied, like muffled chaos seen through squinted eyes.