Taishi Hirokawa – Sonomama Sonomama

A strik­ing first edition photo­book by acclaimed Japan­ese photog­ra­pher Taishi Hirokawa, Sono­mama Sono­mama (Japan­ese for ​“just as you are”) captures every­day people across rural Japan — farmers, fish­er­men, shop­keep­ers, gas station atten­dants — photographed in avant-garde outfits by design­ers such as Issey Miyake, Comme des Garçons, and Yohji Yamamoto.

Hirokawa invites his subjects to wear high-fashion garments in their every­day envi­ron­ments, creat­ing power­ful juxta­po­si­tions between tradi­tion and moder­nity, rural life and urban aesthet­ics. The result­ing portraits are inti­mate, humor­ous, and thought-provok­ing — high­light­ing the grace and indi­vid­u­al­ity of people simply being themselves.

This large-format photo­book is a cult favorite among fashion, photog­ra­phy, and design collec­tors for its orig­i­nal­ity and cross-cultural narrative.

Out of print and increas­ingly rare, this copy remains in very good condi­tion, showing only minor shelf wear.