Rinko Kawauchi’s *As it is* opens with three photographs: a blue sky, a shimmering river, and the birth of a new life. Published by Chose Commune in October 2020, the book was made in close collaboration with the Japanese publisher torch press. It returns to Kawauchi’s earlier photographic focus on her personal universe through family, memory and time, presenting a succession of mundane moments and gestures alongside more significant ones.

Among the everyday images are a spider’s web, a bowl of rice, and a small hand pointing at an insect. Alongside them come her daughter’s first steps, family outings, and the passing of a close relative. A photograph of a kitchen window witnessing the passing of the seasons punctuates the personal narrative, and short texts by Kawauchi herself are interspersed through the sequence. The pages navigate between inside and outside, always within close distance, as Kawauchi catches the fleeting beauty of in-between moments and tells the story of an ordinary family going through life just as it is.

The first edition was edited by Nao Amino and Cécile Poimbœuf-Koizumi, with design by Akiko Wakabayashi and text by Rinko Kawauchi. It runs 144 pages plus 18 inserts with text, contains 113 photographs, and measures 18 by 23 centimetres. The binding is a section-sewn softcover with dust jacket, and the book’s languages are French and English. Kawauchi was born in 1972 in Shiga and lives in Chiba, Japan. She became interested in photography while studying at Seian College of Art and Design, works mainly in the 6×6 format, and is known for a serene, poetic style illustrating ordinary moments in life. She is represented by Galerie Priska Pasquer in Germany, Meessen De Clercq in Belgium, Rose Gallery in the USA, and Christophe Guye Galerie in Switzerland.