Lena C. Emery — Rie

Within “Rie” (published in November 2016 by Kominek), the first in Emery’s trilogy of books, the viewer witnesses a delicately complex elaboration in character as the subjects repeatedly pose, rest and move — while being in different states of undress. The images are not realist, because her subjects can be seen to be performing, with subtlety or pronouncement, and yet they are not constructed. On the last pages and written in the naive voice of a young girl living in a bygone era in rural Japan, Emery gives into the notion of our bodies being bound to the natural world.

In summer time, once the sun would
stay high above the horizon for most of
the day, father would take us through
the forest, down to Yuigahama beach.

For hours my sisters and I would lay
there, our naked bodies buried deep in
the hot sand, listening to the undulating
waves as they touched and lapped onto
the rocks.

We would watch the last fishermen come ashore,
chanting Soran Bushi, their song of gratitude
to the wide ocean’s treasures
caught that day. Come nightfall,
we returned home with the
taste of salt still fresh on our
tongues and our skin dark, like
the muddy brown of a distant river.

Oh, how much joy would have
been lost on those summer days,
had our bodies been covered
in these linens then ...


Excerpt from a short story
found on the last page of “Rie”

— written by Lena C. Emery

Photography
Lena C. Emery