Japanese Tatami Room and Antique Chests | Black and White Photography
Storage Chests and a Reading Stand Across Quiet Tatami
The open floor is what I notice first in this room. Tatami borders spread toward a row of old storage chests, while an open book and low reading stand occupy a small area to the right. At Matsue's Samurai Residence in Japan, these few furnishings give the black and white photograph a clear, unhurried structure.
The house was organized around a distinction between public duties and family life. Formal rooms received visitors, while the private rooms were more modest in their treatment. Domestic spaces could also serve more than one purpose, with furnishings arranged around activities carried out close to the floor.
That history gives the emptiness here a practical meaning. The chests provide storage along the wall, leaving the centre open. The book, cushion and low stand bring attention back to a single place within the larger room. Their small scale makes the surrounding expanse of tatami especially noticeable.
I am drawn to the order I feel in historic Japanese homes. In this view, it comes through the long horizontal beam, the repeated divisions of the mats and the close grouping of objects against broad, quiet surfaces. The black and white treatment lets differences in grain, fabric and light remain subtle. I wanted the photograph to hold that balance between useful furnishings and the space around them.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2025
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About My Fine Art Photography
Every photograph in my collection comes from my own travels, explorations, and years behind the camera.
I create my work as photographic art rather than mass-produced decoration. From street portraits and abandoned places to landscapes, architecture, and the unusual subjects I discover along the way, each image begins with something that made me stop and look.
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