Watanabe Koichi Photographs

“ Itadori is an ordinary plant in Japan but it was brought to Europe and North America in the 19th century and grows vigorously there. This plant seems to grow rapidly to 2 or 3 meters in height in early spring and cuts off the sunshine preventing native plants from growing, breaking down the ecological system in the West. Hearing this story, I have been obsessed by many questions about this plant. What would itadori look like in the foreign landscapes? When did they reach Europe? How did they cross the ocean?

I embarked on a journey to trace the footprints left by the travelling itadori. “

from “Moving Plants”, Seigensha Art Publishing, Inc, 2015

I published my first photo book titled “Moving Plants” in which I assembled photographs as a series of itadori I took in a decade. My trip for the foreign landscapes in which itadori grows changes to the trip to trace their footprints remained on the way they traveled. In these trips, I realized the dynamics in the modern world in which the movement of capital, technology, nature and people have been interwoven in complicated way.

Solo exhibitions were held at The Third Gallery Aya, Osaka in 2015 and Kanzan Gallery, Tokyo in 2016 with this publication.

“イタドリは日本ではごく普通に見られる雑草だが、19世紀に欧米諸国に渡り、その地で大繁殖しているという。春先３メートルの高さに急速に成長して日光を遮ってしまうため、在来種の生育を阻害し、生態系を破壊する厄介ものであるらしい。この話を聞いて以来、私はいくつもの疑問に取り憑かれている。イタドリは異国の風景の中でどんな表情をしているのか？イタドリがヨーロッパに辿り着いたのはいつなのか？どうやって大海原を越えたのか？

私はイタドリが旅した足跡を辿る旅に出た。”

10年間撮影してきたイタドリのシリーズを青幻舎から写真集「Moving Plants」として出版しました。異国の風景の中のイタドリを探す旅は、いつしかイタドリが通った足跡を辿る旅になり、その過程で浮かび上がってきたのは、資本の動き、技術、自然そして人が複雑に入り組んだ現在社会の基底にある力学でした。

"Moving Plants" can be purchased here