Artist’s Statement
- Artist’s Statement
As dusk approaches, roadside vending machines light up in the cities and suburbs. These scenes of vending machines lined up along the roadside are unique to Japan. Whether downtown or somewhere in the wilderness, the vending machines are placed there to stand in solitude, an image of loneliness. They work tirelessly, come day, come night. If their sales figures drop, they will be taken away. If they do not shine and glow, they will stop existing. There might be something human about them. [End Page 244]
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights I #001, Kutchan, Hokkaido, 2017
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #096, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, 2020
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #113, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 2021
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #103, Imakane, Hokkaido, 2020
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights III #053, Muroran, Hokkaido, 2019
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #102, Atami, Shizuoka, 2020
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #110, Sannenzaka, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 2020
lambda print
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eiji ohashi
Roadside Lights IV #111, Minato Ward, Tokyo, 2020
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eiji ohashi was born in Wakkanai, Japan, in 1955. In 1984, he began photographing the Himalayas, Tibet, Pakistan, and China’s Western Regions, driven by the question, “What does happiness mean?” In 2008, he began his series on vending machines. His main exhibitions are Roadside Lights and Existence of.
