counterpoint

counterpoint (Japanese title Ishi to Momo, "Stone and Peach") is a photobook by Kazuhei Kimura about Alice in Wonderland syndrome, a condition in which size, distance, color or time are perceived differently from reality. Ten years after he first imagined it, the series became a book, published by Akaaka Art Publishing in 2025.

The story behind the book

Kimura learned the name of the syndrome ten years ago, around the time he started making photographs, and wanted to make work about it. Through exhibitions and self-published editions he kept testing ways to hold that sensation in a photograph. The title puts into words one of the images he sees, both daily and suddenly: something hard and monotone mixing with something soft and brightly colored.

The series was never meant to be a book. It took shape over five exhibitions in three years, taking in new elements each time.

What is in the book

• A large 380 × 240 mm format with white space that feels like volume
• Binding sewn with fluorescent pink thread, part of the work itself
• A sequence that keeps waking up shifts in perception, sideways and in depth

About Kazuhei Kimura

Born in 1993 in Iwaki, Fukushima, Kimura lives in Tokyo. He won a Juror's Encouragement Prize at the 19th 1_WALL photography competition and the Grand Prix of IMA next #6. His photobooks include IRON RIBBON and Atarashii Mado (Akaaka).