Photographer Manabu Yamanaka

While Miyamoto photographed the living structures of the organized homeless, Manabu Yamanaka photographed the other end of extremes of Tokyo’s homeless population. In his artist statement Yamanaka points out that the subjects for his photographic series ‘Arakan’ wandered aimlessly through the city, lost the ability to communicate and had no bedding or clothing except for what they were wearing. Particularly Yamanaka’s observation that his subjects were ‘shuffling along because of malnutrition’ evokes the harrowing image of concentration camps victims. Giorgio Agamben’s analysis of the figure of the Muselmann describes men in the Nazi concentration camps who have lost their senses through malnutrition, emotional and physical abuse and have become a limit-figure between life and death. In reference to the etymology of the word Muselmann, the ‘Muslim’ is a figure who has totally submitted himself to the way of god. The title of the photographic series ‘Arakan’ also equates the homeless men to an encounter with god. Derived from the Sanskrit word Arihan (ari=enemy, han=kill), the Arakan is the highest goal attainable to those practicing Theravada Buddhism. In other words, the Arakan has ‘killed’ his ‘enemies’ greed, anger and delusions. Photographer Yamanaka writes that his subjects have severed all ties to the flesh and practice assiduous austerity. It is perhaps a more romantic interpretation of the homeless men that he photographed, as if it is a choice of lifestyle rather than a consequence of mental illness.

                                                            >>>Manabu Yamanaka