Rinko Kawauchi’s Illuminance, the value of a sequence.

Published 4 November 2026 · WHV

The photograph on the cover of Illuminance gives you somewhere to begin. The book’s larger effect arrives as one picture gives way to another. A shift in light or scale can make you carry something from the previous page into an otherwise unrelated subject.

Aperture first published the book in 2011 and brought it back in 2021. The anniversary edition retains Kawauchi’s picture order and adds texts by David Chandler, Masatake Shinohara and Lesley A. Martin. The distinction is useful to a reader deciding between an older copy and an edition bought primarily to spend time with the work.

Start by looking through the pictures in order, without stopping at the essays. Return to a pair of pictures that stayed with you and see what the change of page did. If buying used, verify the imprint and binding, and ask about marks on the pages as well as the condition of the cover.