The other day I went to the Japan Alps for the first time in years. As a child, I often climbed mountains with my father – from the hills at the back of our home to mountains over three thousand meters high. As I rode on the bus travelling through the high mountains and admired the view from the window, I remembered the same kind of bus I used to ride on as a child and how I was always a little nervous. I like walking alone in silence in the mountains, but when I catch sight of people walking vigorously amidst the vastness nature, I feel really happy inside. The clouds that float across the ridgeline of the mountains and the dampness I feel on my skin, the direction of the sun, the aspect of the mountains all change from moment to moment. The people lingering in that place seemed irreplaceable too.

I was staring one night at the round moon above Tokyo, which surely I'd gazed at many times before, and was struck by its beauty and how the gauzy clouds floated across it. When I meet people, I suddenly remember the moon on that day and the mountains. My mind turns to the future, to my family, everyday things and everyone lingering within those distant thoughts. As all things change from one thing to another moment upon moment, important moments unexpectedly show their face in those people – just like coming across people in the mountains, just like the clouds over the moon dissipate.

The words “laetitia” is the Latin word for “joy.”

Koichi Doyo

Photographer. Born 1981 in Tokyo, spent his childhood in Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures. After working in a photography studio and studying under Yoshihiko Ueda, he launched his career as an independent photographer in 2013.

Laetitia
Koichi Doyo

Date : 23 September, 2013 - 12 October, 2013
Time : Weekday 11:00 - 20:00 / Saturdays and Holidays 11:00 - 18:30
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