French photographer Bruno Quinquet is presenting a new book and exhibition that reveals a unique perspective on Tokyo’s ubiquitous salarymen.
The Tokyo-based photographer has been documenting daily life and culture in his host country since 2007, with his organization Bureau D’Etudes Japonaises. The website has grown into a set of archives covering urbanism, sociology and botany, amongst other subjects. In simpler terms, the Bureau studies Tokyo through photography—and their latest venture is the Salaryman Project.
Salaryman Project 2015 will showcase captivating images of salarymen going through the daily grind, complete with the crowded commute, expeditious lunch breaks and isolation. Yet, it will also show surprising images with the workers out of context, which brings a playful note to that otherwise run-of-the-mill routine typically associated with salarymen.
The exhibition will coincide with the release of the “Salaryman Project Business Schedule 2015,” an ongoing photography work documenting the sense of the season in Tokyo’s corporate world. The work is published as an illustrated business agenda (in Japanese and English). This project highlights the increasingly paranoid relationship between snapshot photography and privacy in the public space.
You can see prints, installation work, and pick up a business schedule at this newly opened art space that doubles as a bar—the admission fee includes one drink.
Salaryman Project 2015
More information: http://l-amusee.com/atsukobarouh/schedule/2014/1129.php
When: November 29–December 7
Where: Atsukobarouh (see map)
How much: ¥500 (includes one drink)
Image: Courtesy of Bruno Quinquet
