A RUDE AWAKENING - Hajime Matsumoto

Hajime Matsumoto is an 18-year-old student who photographs raw, unfiltered scenes from his everyday life and the people he encounters. He is currently studying at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Using a Nikon EM with a 28mm lens and Tri-X 400, he documented moments from his school life. This book is his debut publication, produced as a hardcover edition using the money he had saved since childhood from otoshidama — a Japanese New Year tradition in which children receive small cash gifts from their families. By investing those personal savings, he chose to turn his first body of work into a physical book.

Statement

For six years, Japanese high school was a loop. Hanging out with the same people, in the same halls, following the same schedule. But when senior year started, I began to see this stagnant life slipping away. This small shift motivated me to start documenting it before it ended.

But my mundane school life somehow became absurd once I photographed it. My photographs captured what was hidden beneath my routine life. The raw energy, pride, and intensity of adolescent life masked by the submissive expectations of a Japanese student. 

I aimed to actualize my own truth with my camera. I photographed on instinct, relentlessly and intrusively. Before I even realized it, I became both a participant and an observer in my own life. My photographs confronted me. I realized the only difference between my high school and a prison was the people locked up inside it. We didn’t choose to be locked up, the only freedom we had was the life we made for ourselves. Our innate youthfulness was the catalyst that kept us somewhat sane.

Book Details

• Photos by Hajime Matsumoto
• 215 x 303mm
• 54 pages
  
• Hardcover
• Signed
• Published in 2025
• Printed in Japan

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