Taylor Kurtz, Soft Geography: Japan (TRAVEL 2026)

A 35mm visual diary of a journey through Japan. Japan lives in contrasts; where gleaming towers and neon streets pulse with the future, coexisting with temples and quiet rituals that hold the weight of centuries of enduring tradition. Tides of bodies move through the kinetic Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo; elsewhere, four women in traditional silk kimono stand quietly before the vertical hush of a Bamboo Grove; further along, little wooden Hozugawa Kudari and their boatmen drift a slow passage through autumn colour on the Hozu River as they have done for over a thousand years. Together, these moments sketch a soft geography of Japan—where movement and stillness, contemporary life and inherited ritual, collide in fleeting alignment before the travellers eye.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.