KENRO IZU: FUZHOU - THE SACRED LAND

For more than four decades, New York-based Japanese photographer Kenro Izu has travelled the world photographing sacred and spiritual places. His journey began in Egypt and Syria in the 1970s, before turning eastwards to Cambodia, Bhutan, India and China.

Introduced to the city by his friend Han Feng, Izu arrived in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, in 2017: more specifically, the site where the ancient camphor trees and historical houses that now form part of Shanghai’s Amanyangyun were rescued from, under threat from a reservoir project.

To Kenro Izu: “The places I photographed in Fuzhou are like anywhere else on Earth. They became ruins, were abandoned. When a dam is built, only traces of people and places remain – the roof of a school, an advertising sign hanging on a pole. They are traces of human existence; they are today’s monuments. They guide my interest towards the people, to look for the human scent amidst forgotten villages and dilapidated houses. They point me to monuments of humankind. And I name them: ‘The Sacred Land’.”

井津建郎：抚州——神圣之地

过去四十年，旅居纽约的日本摄影师井津建郎周游列国，拍摄神圣与灵性之境。七十年代开始，他从埃及与叙利亚起步，逐渐向东，直至柬埔寨、不丹、印度、中国等地。

在友人韩枫的介绍下，井津建郎于2017年来到江西抚州，一个因兴建水坝而被淹没的村落。如今上海养云安缦的部分古树与古建筑素材，正是从该村落转移而来。

井津建郎言道：“我在抚州拍摄的地方，也许与地球其他角落区别不大。一切被渐渐遗忘，成为废墟。水坝建成后，只剩下淡淡人迹，比如学校的屋顶，或电线杆上的广告牌。而这恰恰是人类存在的印记，是现今的遗迹。这些痕迹把我导向至今仍在这些地区的人们，去聆听那些被忘记的村庄、已倒塌的房子中的人的余音。它们引领我去寻找人类的纪念碑，而我称之为‘神圣之地’。”