“Three years ago, my friend Yann Stofer travelled up Japan from south to north. In Hokkaidō, through the roads and landscapes, he experienced total freedom, allowing him to approach a highly poetic universe, so fascinating is the power of snow. It alters the visual and auditory field.
Still using film, Yann worked here with 24×36 and 4×5 cameras. These photos bear witness to his new-found emotion and serenity. Under his gaze, landscapes are rebuilt, escaping the earthly order. We dream of immersion, of nature at the top of our lungs. Yann had even more to offer: the mysterious dimension of Japan.
Everything seems to take on a different form. A dried flower at the bend in the path is inscribed like an ideogram. Everything becomes graphic in this drift he has let himself go. Niseko, Hakodate, Obihiro, Kushiro, Abashiri, Asahikawa, like so many escape routes and pockets of time… We glide with him along the virgin, unmarked trails of Asahidake, as if overcome by the magic of this land. His photographs bear witness to his abandonment in wonder: Hokkaidō is blue, white and golden. “François Simon, writer
