Photography: Rinko Kawauchi turns her gaze to burning farms and constellations

Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi is unrivalled in her ability to reveal breathtaking beauty in the smallest details of everyday life. Her dedication to capturing the fragile and fleeting essence of objects, people and experiences has defined her career, however in her latest project we see the her gaze beginning to move beyond the mundane and reflect upon grander concepts of existence.

The title of the project Ametsuchi comprises two Japanese characters meaning “heaven and earth,” and documents a traditional style of controlled-burn farming (yakihata) in which cycles of cultivation and recovery span generations. Placing these images alongside photographs of distant constellations, religious ceremonies and tiny human figures within vast rural landscapes, Kawauchi moves away from a deeply personal fixation with fleeting moments, instead contemplating the means by which we have traditionally attempted to transcend time and memory.