The Salt of the Earth contains a group of photographs taken 1992-1999 on the Amami islands of Japan. While Hibi originally took these photos as mementos of his trip, as his career as a photographer progressed the photos came to have a hold a new significance to him. Hibi subsequently met Roland Angst of German publisher Only Photography, and Angst’s favourite photos of Hibi’s were later compiled as the present title, accompanying a show of the work at a Tokyo gallery. Hibi employs dropped horizons, stark contrasts and occasional extreme sections to stage the island and its inhabitants pictorially; with this perspective so typical of post-war Japanese photography, he joins the tradition of the Japanese masters of the 1970s like Nakahira, Moriyama and Takanashi. "Limited and signed edition of 250 copies, the first 20 copies come with a limited and signed gelatine silver print in the size of the book." 80 unnumbered pages : chiefly black and white illustrations ; 26 cm. Hardcover boards with hot foil embossing.
