I've enjoyed Homma's books from outside Japan (his work in Poland, Denmark and Russia) for his sensitive response to light and architecture in often seemingly bland motives. The book "Widows" sprung from a commission of the Rapallo photofestival and is a small treasure and sight to behold: two soft cover books in a jacket, held together with an elastic band. The slightly more corpulent book presents the portraits of the eleven widows, street-scenes from Genoa and Rapallo and rephotographed images from family albums, shuffled by Homma to create a mix (somewhat comparably to Tacita Dean's "Floh").


The second volume has a page-to-page description of the first by curator Francesco Zanot, a deadpan description of the page composition and content of the images, which manages to bring out the best in the pictures and serves as a dry counterpart to those personal, subjective and private images. I just love the way these two volumes work with one another. To be sure, a lot of publications on private or vernacular photography have been on the market for nearly ten years now (and I'm not close to having seen enough). Homma convinces me with his clear and elegant style and visual and visceral curiosity, which this beautiful publication knowingly enhances. —Sebastian Arthur Hau