All Images Yamamoto Masao From *Small Things In Silence*, 2nd Edition, 2020. Courtesy Of Editorial Rm.

What is beautiful? Little has driven humanity as far as the search for beauty in the universe. The eternal search for what we know and perceive as perfection, and the fleeting, yearning feeling for some divine other that will finally fulfill culture’s ravenous hunger. Like a child greedily eating a box of chocolates, it is insatiable. Whole philosophies, religions, and arts have devoted millennia to this eternal mystery. Is beauty in the sacred spires of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? Is it in the hallowed halls of the Uffizi Gallery? Grand and spectacular, is beauty hiding in the bastion of humanity’s most refined creations?

Perhaps the search begins in an older, ancient ground. If you were to strip humanity of culture, what would we have left? Empty plots of grounds where monuments used to stand, empty gallery halls, and most of all, silence. Peeling back the bustling epidermis of modern day society, the primordial rhythm of nature beats faintly for those who listen closely enough. When considering the upper echelons of beauty, there is no larger master than nature, delicately conducting the orchestra of the universe.

The photographer Yamamoto Masao is a quiet audience member listening from the back of the hall. Parsing through the chaotic and inconsistent symphony, Yamamoto isn’t interested in capturing the loudest noises. His small-format photographs are only interested in the underlying soft and subtle notes that disappear almost as quickly as they appear.

Born in Aichi Prefecture in Japan, Yamamoto originally set out to pursue painting, studying under Goro Saito. However, in 1980, Yamamoto moved to photography, his painting background informing his practice. Manipulating silver gelatin prints through processes like dying images with tea or paint or tearing them, the physical act of painting translates to his photography. Over the years, Yamamoto has released several monographs, with the first, A Box of Ku, in 1998. His work is on display in museums and galleries across the United States, Japan, Europe, Russia, and Brazil.

Seeing a reissue via Editorial RM, Small Things in Silence, originally published in 2014, pushes to refresh readers with the addition of new photographs. Composed of photos taken throughout his journey, the book captures the theme of intimacy in the perfect light. Flipping rapidly through the book, one can quickly tell the works are all concise, the colors and shapes seemingly look of the same nature. But only upon closer inspection does one begin to notice how unique and diverse the images Yamamoto chooses to include are.

A butterfly wing, tree roots torn up by the wind, waves gently falling on a deserted beach, Yamamoto is a conduit for the small and insignificant moments that are oft left overlooked and forgotten to the void of time. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Perhaps Yamamoto’s keen ears would pick up on the loud thud before the forest resumed its quiet chattering.

Rejecting the pristine appearance of what would typically make up a piece of fine art, Yamamoto’s work is raw. His photographs are almost exclusively black and white with deliberately worn edges that drop any form of pretension. Almost as if it had been taken from an old photo album, the torn and scratched works embrace the effects of time’s ruthless damage. This is Yamamoto’s artistic direction speaking, softly.

Is this where beauty is hidden? Within the discordant cacophony of day to day life where things are irregular, asymmetrical, and erratic? Perhaps it is. Perhaps beauty will reveal itself to those who are willing enough to listen to the quiet rhythm of the world around them.