There are these very strict customs and I was curious how they were felt by younger people-monks, skater kids, or high school students. In some ways, Kyoto can feel like it’s stuck in the past. I wanted to see how this is felt among the younger generations. It doesn’t need to be something so formal, but it’s more like you need to work with someone who lives in the city full time.įamighetti: So, the local festival helped open some doors for you?Ĭapitán: The city is attached to tradition. But the city is kind of hard to access, in the sense that you cannot really photograph the people you want to photograph unless you have some sort of credential. For the longest time, I just dreamed of spending more time in Kyoto, working with young people there. Michael Famighetti: How did you begin your new series, Ookini, which is made in Kyoto?Ĭoco Capitán: I had been traveling to Japan many times. While there she created a series called Ookini (2022), Kansai for “thank you,” which considers young people in the city-the son of a kyōgen theater performer, Zen monk students, skaters, the daughters of a doll maker, a son from a family who for centuries has made tea kettles-who balance tradition, social expectations, and contemporary culture.

Capitán was recently a resident at Kyotographie, the annual photography festival in Kyoto.

The forms of her projects are equally multifarious, encompassing still photography, painting, and video, as well as aphoristic texts posing questions or fragments of thought, realized in what is now her signature scribbly handwriting.

The Spanish artist Coco Capitán has found inspiration in the sea and the color blue, out on the open landscapes of the American West, among a team of synchronized swimmers, and by revisiting a childhood vision of connecting Spain with China via a tunnel.

Instal the new Coco