Symphony – mushrooms from the forest: Hardcover Photobook by Takashi Homma

Symphony - mushrooms from the forest is a hardcover photobook by Takashi Homma, published by Case Publishing in 2019. The project is built around a precise premise: mushrooms collected from landscapes marked by radioactive contamination, photographed as specimens and arranged with the care of a scientific catalogue. The result is a book that holds its subject at a measured distance while keeping the weight of that subject fully present.

Each mushroom is isolated against a white background. The presentation is clinical — no staging, no atmosphere, no editorial pressure. The sequencing reads like an inventory, which is part of the logic. The images accumulate quietly, and that accumulation carries the argument.

Homma gathered specimens across four sites: Scandinavia, Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Stony Point. Between the specimen plates, photographs of forests and incidental travel views interrupt the sequence. These pauses return the collection to its source — the actual terrain, the actual forest, the conditions under which these things were found.

Symphony - mushrooms from the forest was shortlisted for the 2020 Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. It was issued as a limited edition of 300 copies. The format — 334 × 265 mm, 296 pages — is designed for sustained attention, not quick handling. This is a title within the broader Photobooks category that rewards slow reading.

Condition

Unread. Minor cosmetic wear only: small dent on the back edge of the case and faint surface traces on the front board. Interior is clean. See defect photos.

Also available: Symphony - mushrooms from the forest (Softcover).