{"id":160732,"date":"2025-06-05T17:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/160732\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T17:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:04:14","slug":"capturing-moments-of-intimacy-between-friends-and-lovers-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/160732\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing moments of intimacy between friends and lovers in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gili Benita, Shinmitsu16 Images<\/p>\n

Seven years after photographing solitude in Japan, photographer Gili Benita<\/a> returned to capture its opposite: connection. In his latest project, Shinmitsu, the photographer ventured into bedrooms, shared apartments, and sun-soaked play parks across Japan. As he documented moments of quiet interaction, Benita learned a new way to understand closeness. \u201cIt was Japan that made me search for this different kind of intimacy \u2013 a kind that doesn\u2019t always announce itself, but that still holds so much weight and meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Japan, this balance between the public self and private feelings is known as \u2018tatemae\u2019 (\u5efa\u524d) and \u2018honne\u2019 (\u672c\u97f3). Tatemae refers to the face people show to the world \u2013 usually the socially acceptable, restrained version of themselves \u2013 while honne is the true self, often kept private and shared only with close friends or family. The emotional space between the two became central to Benita\u2019s work. \u201cI see vulnerability as the bridge between the two,\u201d he tells Dazed. \u201cTo move beyond tatemae is to risk being seen in a way that is raw, unguarded, and emotionally honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captured through a series of tender vignettes, Shinmitsu explores the delicate space where tatemae and honne meet. This tension has come to shape much of Japanese social life, explains Benita. \u201cJapanese society can feel rigid at times, with clearly defined norms and limited space for emotional expression in public,\u201d from his outsider perspective, Benita saw how these quiet moments of connection were a gentle push back against social expectations. \u201cWhether it was a queer couple at their apartment, or best friends lying silently on the grass, their intimacy felt like a soft, unconscious act of resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"Shinmitsu\"Photography Gili Benita<\/p>\n

Working with casting director Emma Schwarz<\/a>, Benita stepped into these intimate spaces as he photographed couples, friends, and family members participating in these unguarded connections. Shinmitsu\u2019s subjects include soulmates Hibari and Rein, the spiritually connected Harutaro and Malorie and aunt and nephew Anna and Noah. \u201cMany of the people we photographed are part of Emma\u2019s own network in Tokyo, and that trust and connection laid the foundation for the entire project. This collaborative process between me and Emma, and between us and the participants was truly invaluable.\u201d While it required gaining an additional layer of trust, photographing in a place where he didn\u2019t belong gave Benita a unique perspective. \u201cIt allows me to observe without assumptions, and to ask questions that I might not be able to ask in a place that feels more familiar,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

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It was Japan that made me search for this different kind of intimacy \u2013 a kind that doesn\u2019t always announce itself, but that still holds so much weight and meaning \u2013 Gili Benita<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To document people in these intimate states, Benita was intentional about the environments in which he worked, often allowing participants to guide the setting. Rather than staging scenes, Benita leaned into places that already held emotional meaning and personal history. \u201cIn these environments, I noticed that people opened up more easily, not just to me, but to each other. The walls of performance came down, and something more vulnerable took their place,\u201d he says. Many of these spaces carried personal history \u2013 a grandmother\u2019s living room, a first apartment shared as a couple, or a favorite remote park of best friends. \u201cThat vulnerable, but safe setting helped us open up to each other, and at some points, even share private and deeper feelings, even though we just met.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"GiliPhotography Gili Benita<\/p>\n

In these familiar environments, Shinmitsu reveals the small gestures that build connection: an arm wrapped around a partner\u2019s neck, sparking cigarettes together, a hand resting softly on a family member\u2019s shoulder. Benita explains, \u201cI was drawn to moments when participants seemed to shed their public identity and allowed themselves to be fully present with one another. These weren\u2019t performances for the outside world, but real and transparent exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through this process, Benita also discovered a personal journey unfolding alongside his photography. \u201cFor many of the people I photographed, the shoot itself became a kind of prompt \u2013 a reason to be present with each other, to laugh, to hug, or just to lie on the grass in silence.\u201d Being invited into these intimate settings became a mirror for his own understanding of closeness and emotional honesty. \u201cEvery encounter made me question, and sometimes, find my own answers. Watching how others hold each other, how they create space for love or friendship, quietly made me rethink the kind of intimacy I long for, and how I\u2019ve experienced it in my own life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit the gallery above for a closer.<\/p>\n