City of The Dead - Japanese Cemeteries

• Photographer
  Maximilian Gottwald
• Agency / Studio
  Fotografie Maximilian Gottwald
• Technical Info
  Fuji Gfx50r Mf, T-s Lenses, Gitzo Tripod
• Photo Date
  2020 - 2025

i document cemeteries in the middle of the city with its skyscrapers and the urban landscape in the background. dealing with the connection between past and present, tradition and modernity as well as life and death. it gives a fascinating insight into the complexity of the contrasts in japan. the pictures show the cemeteries as small oases of peace in the middle of the hectic urban landscapes. the tranquillity of the world of the dead and the hustle and bustle of urban life meet here and create an impressive contrast between past and present, between silence and noise.

maximilian gottwald, born in munich in 1980, studied photo design at the munich university of applied sciences (formerly fachakademie für fotodesign) and, due to his passion for the built environment, focused on architectural photography early on in his studies. in his diploma thesis "zwielicht: kraftfeld.der.energie" he dealt with the topic of power plants in the form of an aestheticization of purely functional architecture. "photography enables me to express my own view of things. through it i can preserve transient moments and create surreal worlds"