ANDREW PHELPS: Cross–Cultural

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009

Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

Austria, 2004
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

When traveling in a foreign place, I tend to be fascinated with both the exotic and the mundane. The two are often one and the same, especially in a place where the gap between old and new is astronomical. In most modern societies, tradition, history, and religion have etched a deep set of rituals and codes which are being tested and expanded as cultural homogenization begins to question set systems and ideologies. My interests in Niigata, and Japan in general, lie within documenting this gap.

ANDREW PHELPS is an American photographer living in Austria. I discovered his work through his blog BUFFET. There's a great INTERVIEW with Andrew Phelps by Daniel Augschöll and Anya Jasbär in Ahorn Magazine here. Andrew Phelps WEBSITE