KODOKU - 孤独 BY GILI BENITA
Gili Benita is a photographer based in New York City.
As a contributor to Sabukaru he presents his 2018 series Kodoku - 孤独.
Over to Gili:
During the past month, we entered into a new, unfamiliar reality. The new rules of social distancing caught us all by surprise. No one was mentally prepared to isolate themselves from the rest of the world physically. Now when the coronavirus pandemic is spreading worldwide, loneliness takes a more significant step into our daily lives.
In February 2018, I traveled to Japan for a two-month journey to explore the Japanese culture of being alone and its encounter with my sense of solitude. In a country where thousands of people die alone each year without anyone noticing, loneliness reaches its extreme form. In my journey, I was able to find the difference between loneliness and solitude and the positive presence of the existence of personal individualism. In the series of photographs that I took, I tried to photograph my solitariness through other people, passersby in the space of Japan.
The characters I chose to photograph were, for me, a mirror for myself. They helped me to figure out the thin line between solitude and loneliness. For me, looking at those stranger characters and finding a sense of identification from a distant place inspired me to express feeling alone in a place where allows it. Especially in the loneliest place, I did not feel alone anymore.
Traveling alone, and especially in Japan, confronted me with my biggest fear, being alone. At the same time, it also taught me how to find my solitude in it. While walking in the streets of Osaka, Tokyo, and Kanazawa, the beaches of Totori and the Mountains of Nagano, I saw the reflection of myself in the different passers. Those reflections made me look at myself for the first time, without any filters. Those reflections helped me to accept myself without looking to the side. In a way, confronting myself was the best way to find and reconnect with me.
Today, when we are all locked in our apartments, away from our loved ones, we are being confronted with ourselves. Although it might feel dangerous to spend so much time with our mind by ourselves and dive into endless overthinking, we can actually look at it in a different direction. We can get to know ourselves better. This opportunity right now is a great time to look, have a sincere and genuine chat with ourselves, and enjoy the process of it. It's important to know that you are never alone, and this period does not have to be lonely when you have yourself.
Credits:
Photos and Text: Gili Benita
Biography
Gili Benita is an Israeli photographer based in New York City. In 2015, he started his military service as a cinematographer in the Israeli Air Force film unit, making psychological and instructional films. After his release from the military in 2016, he began his first long-term documentary project, working with 'Save a Child's Heart' in Israel and Tanzania. In 2018, this work was exhibited at the "Local Testimony" exhibition in the Eretz Israel Museum In Tel Aviv and won the first prize in the Photographed story category. That same year he traveled to Japan for a project on the culture of Japanese loneliness: 'Kodoku,' which was published in Sabukaru, iGNANT, The Independent Photographer, Aint Bad, and Tokyo Foto Awards. In 2020, he graduated from the ICP's Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program, where he was awarded the Lisette Model Scholarship and the Director's Fellowship.Later that year, Gili joined Diversify Photo as a full member.
