Peter Cook

British architectural photographer Peter M. Cook (born 1967) started traveling to Tokyo in 1992, and settled there in 1998. Cook has devoted himself to photographing buildings across Japan. Edo is the culmination of 20 years spent tirelessly documenting Tokyo and its buildings, recording an architectural evolution of the city.

For this photobook, Cook has selected 100 images of Tokyo, paying homage to the visual language of Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo: Mount Fuji makes an appearance, ghostlike in the background, its powerful iconic presence a reminder of a constant in nature, in contrast to the urban landscape at its base. At the same time, Cook’s abstract aesthetics are reminiscent of the pioneering silent film Metropolis (1927), which still defines the futuristic city.

The book also includes a haiku by the renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, whose buildings Cook has documented for a new project.