Toshio Shibata, Gas Station, 2020

Shibata, returning to Japan after years living between Europe and the United States, notices something that strikes him: the gas stations on the sides of the road are the same all over the world. And, all over the world, they give the same feeling of suspension and estrangement. So, he decides to photograph gas stations along the roads of Japan. He does not seek to arouse melancholy, but to portray a sort of archetypal scene, a universal image that goes to compose a broader and global vision of the world. Toshio Shibata occupies a special place within the landscape photography scene: his images do not portray idealized wilderness, nor do they moralize about man’s damaging imprint on the natural world. The author studies places of contact, where yes we have altered the earth, but where we have also created places of reflection, wonder, and awe. Gas Stations presents seven jewel-like images, beautifully reproduced and accompanied by a silver gelatin photograph, printed in love by the artist himself.