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Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows) | Ise Jingu

It is said that 1500 Shinto rites are carried out each year at the shrines of Ise Jingu. Rice is offered, salt carefully shaped, and blessings of land and sea presented to the gods. These day-to-day rituals, unchanged over 2000 years, hold mysteries of Japanese beauty and virtue; secrets the photographs of Yasumichi Morita unravel and reveal. Morita’s eye is caught by rice husks scattered over earth, exquisite motions of the Shinto-priests, and minute features of the buildings. The layering of these minimalist fragments brings out the centuries of time accumulated within Ise Jingu. “The details no one sees are what I want to shoot,” he says. The time he communed face-to-face with Japanese beauty, while savoring the luxury of capturing the “everyday” that has been repeated over and over again, has become Morita’s lifework. Late at night, on the deserted white-pebbled-covered grounds of this sacred place, what is it that Morita sees?

All photos
© Yasumichi Morita

  •
    The view of the divine palace of Naiku from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    The view of the divine palace of Naiku from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Mt.Kamiji reflected on the surface of Isuzugawa-river
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Mt.Kamiji reflected on the surface of Isuzugawa-river
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Ujibashi-Bridge
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Ujibashi-Bridge
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Purification font
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Purification font
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Ujibashi-bridge and Isuzugawa-river
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Ujibashi-bridge and Isuzugawa-river
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Rice nursery and rice seeds
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Rice nursery and rice seeds
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Outer east gate of Naiku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Outer east gate of Naiku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Sacred fire
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Sacred fire
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • The view of the divine palace of Naiku and the small structure stands on the plot for the next
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    The view of the divine palace of Naiku and the small structure stands on the plot for the next
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Evening view of Geku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Evening view of Geku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Sakaki branch attached to a Torii gate
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Sakaki branch attached to a Torii gate
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Wooden container for sacred offering
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Wooden container for sacred offering
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • The place for purification
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    The place for purification
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • The Ending of butterfly dance stage
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    The Ending of butterfly dance stage
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Proceed with carrying sacred offering
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Proceed with carrying sacred offering
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Purification ritual
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Purification ritual
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Sacred border rope and Zigzag paper streamer
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Sacred border rope and Zigzag paper streamer
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • A part of 1st Torii gate of Naiku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    A part of 1st Torii gate of Naiku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Huge roof of Naiku-Kaguraden
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Huge roof of Naiku-Kaguraden
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • A part of gate and see-through fence of Naiku-Kaguraden
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    A part of gate and see-through fence of Naiku-Kaguraden
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • A part of Torii gate and Tono-tamagaki-gate of Geku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    A part of Torii gate and Tono-tamagaki-gate of Geku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Naiku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
    Naiku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 34.0x51.0cm
  • Stone staircase of Jingushicho (Ise-Jingu Administration Office)
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Stone staircase of Jingushicho (Ise-Jingu Administration Office)
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • A ritual procession on a rainy day
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    A ritual procession on a rainy day
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Blazing sacred fire in the place for purification
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Blazing sacred fire in the place for purification
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Boiling down for making sacred salt
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Boiling down for making sacred salt
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Weaving of silk cloth for kami
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Weaving of silk cloth for kami
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • The plot for the next reconstruction of Geku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    The plot for the next reconstruction of Geku
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • Naiku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    Naiku main sanctuary
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • The view of the divine palace of Naiku and Mt.Kamiji from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    The view of the divine palace of Naiku and Mt.Kamiji from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
  • The view of the divine palace of Kazahinomino-miya from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm
    The view of the divine palace of Kazahinomino-miya from the plot for the next reconstruction
    Piezography
    Image size : 51.0x34.0cm