DEWDROPS
a world inside each one
by Mäddel Fuchs
No.51
first edition, 2024
ISBN: 978-3-907384-09-1
language: English / Japanese
Date of Release: September, 2024
edition: 1500 ex.
international distribution: Idea Books
Japanese distribution: Hehe Press
preorder here or for international distribution, please contact IDEA Books
hardcover (silkscreen printed title and embossed image on linen)
392 pages (japanese binding)
178 black and white images printed in duplex (plus Pantone color)
290 x 252 mm (300x272 mm)
Printed in Germany by DZA Druckerei zu Altenburg GmbH
artist: Mäddel Fuchs
editors: Sebastian Cremers, Mäddel Fuchs
featuring Japanese poems by: Ki no Tomonori, Matsuo Bashõ, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, Kõda Rohan, Masaoka Shiki, Yosano Akiko, Kawabata Bõsha
Interpretation and translation of Japanese poems: Anna Berry Fukuda
Concept and design: Vieceli & Cremers
“Dewdrops” not only provides insights into the world of dewdrops but also connects different worlds. In Western tradition, a book is opened from left to right – in Japanese tradition, from right to left. This book has two beginnings and no end. Both perspectives can meet and return to a beginning. The eleven interspersed haikus and tankas demonstrate that Japanese poets have been bringing the magic of dewdrops to life for centuries.
On a spring morning, a magic silver glow wafts from the pasture into the cozy parlor. The photographer’s soul, barely back from dreamland, instantly bursts into turmoil. Let’s get out of here! Take the camera! Alas, wrong lens. After all, the same thing happens with every magic spell: the closer you get the more it fades. Only thousands, millions, of dewdrops remain on the blades of grass. Beautiful, so beautiful! But is that all there is? No, the inner magic lies in the close-up macro range – yet, only to be discovered when disregarding the iron macro regulations of photography (only from a tripod, only from aperture 11). Working hand-held with an open aperture; the camera needs to be fixed within the millimeter range. A long learning process with countless disappointments along the way. The dewdrops allow the photographer to enter their world, but only slowly. How infinitely fragile are dewdrops’ life and inner life. I can’t reach the beings without moving, and each move destroys entire worlds. Every careless breath too! I need to internalize this world, best of all, become a dewdrop myself. And a new life unfolds! I cannot find suitable words for this, nor for all what has happened to me in these many hours. I hope I have come up with some pictures. Success depends on the prevailing weather conditions. The summer sun devours the dewdrops far too quickly. The slightest breeze prevents any encounters. The cold ground limits the time you can spend lying down, fingers get clammy, and your eyes reach the end of their capacity. And my crawling just destroyed dewdrop worlds, which is tough on the soul. For a good twelve years, when the conditions worked well, the dewdrops allowed me to live with them for a short while. Early on, I thought “That’s pretty Japanese what you’re doing.” In 2017, while visiting the museum of the Zen master Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki in Kanazawa (Japan), I decided that I wanted to depict my dewdrop life in Japanese. These worlds are now in front of you – and that’s thanks to the great support of everyone involved in this work.
Mäddel Fuchs
