Walking around the small rural town of Kutchan, Hokkaido, in mid-winter I was taken with both the harsh environment and scarcity of people. I wondered at the few signs of life and found myself reading the physical environment as a picture book of life in this area.
I am unshakably awestruck by this type of environment and find that this style of straight or topographic photography serves us a wonderful purpose as a neutral observer's point of view when too often we have no times of quiet contemplation. This photograph shows the place simply and just as it is, with its simultaneous beauty and flaws that will leave each person with their own view on this place.