Shokunin

New York-based portrait and environmental photographer Michael Magers first came to Japan as the principal photographer for an upcoming book on Japanese food and culture written by Matt Goulding and published by Ecco, Anthony Bourdain’s imprint at Harper Collins. For that project he went to photograph the knife makers of Sakai, his first introduction to the world of Japanese shokunin (職人 or artisans).  A new project was born:

It’s been said that in Japan objects are born not made. In a society that increasingly values speed over quality, handcrafted goods retain a heartbeat lacking in the mass-produced world. The master craftsmen (and a few women) who commit their lives to honing perfection to its sharpest edge are known as shokunin. They are a dying breed, often working in obscurity and always with an intense, almost meditative focus on process. It takes years to learn technique alone and a lifetime to approach mastery of tasks that are on the brink of extinction in our on-demand, insta-famous society.

The Shokunin Project is an ethnography of mastery— a study of the obsession and commitment to excellence it takes to dedicate one’s life to the pursuit of perfection. Encompassing images from more than 30 photo sessions across Japan, it documents these men and women as they work, making portraits both as a form of cultural preservation and as a testament to a vanishing group of artisans.

—Michael Magers

 

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Author

Michael Magers

Author's Bio

Michael Magers is a documentary photographer and journalist based in New York City. He is a frequent collaborator with the highly acclaimed team at Roads & Kingdoms and served as the lead photographer on their award-winning books, “Rice Noodle Fish”and “Grape Olive Pig” (as well as contributing to the 3rd book in the series “Pasta Pane Vino”) published by Harper Collins/Anthony Bourdain. His images are exhibited both internationally and in the U.S. and have appeared in a wide range of digital and print publications including Time, Smithsonian, Outside, The California Sunday Magazine, CNN’s Explore Parts Unknown, Saveur, New York Times – T Magazine (Instagram Takeover), Grantland, The Guardian.com, and L’oeil de la Photographie.

Michael’s work documenting craftsmanship in Japan was named a 2016 Critical Mass Finalist.

Credits

All photos by Michael Magers

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