Shiori Ikeno
The Last Summer
If you're not careful, it's suddenly there and shortly thereafter it's already over: the last summer. The never-returning days of a time when you could still escape from the real world. Together with your friends you scurried through the city, across the fields, into the cooling lake, past those who were already stuck and wished for nothing more than to be a part of these reality-denying rebels again.
Tokyo-based photographer Shiori Ikeno captured her last summer on camera. Her images give us intimate insights into a phase when growing up was not yet an option. Here, youthful anarchy, freedom frowned upon by Far Eastern society, and an unconditional joie de vivre that many of us lost long ago, somewhere out there, long ago.
Whether early in the morning in front of the department store, during the day at the amusement park, or late at night on the streets of the Japanese capital, Shiori and her companions celebrate their little universe and the people who exist in it. But even they could not ignore an inescapable truth forever: The last summer is bound to come. And when it is finally over, we wish for nothing more than to be a part of these reality-denying rebels again.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
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