Praising Shadows
Client:
Jaz Jagdeo
Brief:
Photographer Jaz Jagdeo commissioned us to create a singular publication that would serve as both a portfolio piece and a conceptual extension of his practice: a body of work exploring masculinity, identity and the politics of visibility. Building upon an existing fashion editorial, the aim was to move beyond the limitations of the digital feed, where images are fleeting and easily diminished, and instead craft a physical publication that could articulate the deeper social questions underpinning his work.
Central to the brief was the need to connect Jagdeo’s photography to broader conversations around gender, equality and perception, using print as a medium for reflection rather than display. We were tasked with designing a tactile, sculptural publication that would slow the reader’s encounter with the work; creating something intimate, intentional and rooted in material storytelling. The piece needed to draw inspiration from In Praise of Shadows, using the philosophy of darkness, subtlety and ambiguity as a guiding framework.
Format, materials, structure and sequencing all had to echo these themes: creating a physical experience where light, shadow and touch actively shaped meaning. The publication needed to hold photography, poetry and crafted interventions within a cohesive form, producing an object that felt as thoughtful and layered as the ideas it contains. Through this, the final outcome would not simply showcase images but make a statement: that how we see – and what we choose to see – is inseparable from how we value identity, gender and difference.
Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management
Specification:
Concertina, 404 mm × 198 mm; Folder, 420 mm × 297 mm
Typefaces:
Shuei Mincho Pr6, Dai Nippon Printing
Stock:
GF Smith Cromatico, 150gsm; Takeo Satogami Dark Grey, 116 gsm
Rooted in the quiet philosophy of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows, this 1/1 artbook reimagines darkness not as absence, but as depth. Created in collaboration with photographer Jaz Jagdeo, the publication extends upon an earlier fashion editorial exploring masculinity, light and perception; transforming this from a fleeting image series into a tactile study of identity. Within its folds, Praising Shadows considers what it means to be seen and unseen, to hold space for contradiction and to recognise beauty in what is often overlooked.
Each element of the design – from the publication’s hand-finished trifold structure to the layered transparency of its materials – was chosen to serve as a meditation on light itself. Printed on Cromatico, the pages overlap and shift, casting shadows that move with each turn. Photography, specially commissioned poetry and a grid of geometric cutouts play together in rhythm, inspired by the precise geometry of tatami mats. The result is not a book to be read in haste, but one to be experienced: a slow encounter between light, hand and thought.
Encased within a specially constructed sleeve that draws on Japanese folding techniques, Praising Shadows celebrates slowness as a form of resistance to mass production, disposability and surface-level experiences. It honours the time, patience and craft required to make something singular, and invites its holder to look closer: to appreciate the interplay between what is shown and what remains hidden.
In doing so, Praising Shadows gestures toward a broader act of social change – one grounded in perception itself. By shifting how we look, we shift what we value. Through shadow, we find not loss, but possibility.
