Japanese photographer Takeshi Suga turns his talents to snow-bound serenity

We first fell in love with Japanese photographer Takeshi Suga through his Sakuramadelica project which featured hazily, sun-kissed ornamental cherry blossoms, a perfect post for the early throes of summer in May last year. The timing of his latest series is a little late given that we are just easing out of winter, but nevertheless Takeshi’s newest work is a real joy to behold. Winter Wonderland is a series of photographs in which the games the artist likes to play with focus and light are applied to a different context, namely the icy, snow-bound scenes of the Japanese winter. But the overall effect is again stunning, as Takeshi captures a certain atmosphere, the sense of becalmed silence that hangs in the sky like snow clouds.

“Winter in Japan can be extremely harsh but I seek moments of euphoric serenity it also offers every now and then,” Takeshi says. “That’s where I believe Winter Wonderland resides.”