Lieko Shiga’s “Rasen Kaigan” (Spiral Coast) is a haunting, multi-layered masterpiece that transcends traditional documentary photography. Created over four years while living in the coastal village of Kitakama, the project was profoundly altered by the 2011 tsunami. Shiga acted as the community’s “organizer” and photographer, blending local oral histories and myths with surreal, staged imagery. The book features high-contrast, saturated photographs that evoke “earth spirits” and the visceral relationship between the land and the human body.
