FotoFirst — Living Small: Photos of Tokyo’s Incredibly Tiny Hotel Rooms












Perhaps you have already heard about capsule hotels, a very unique type of facility quite common in Japan‘s biggest cities, which consists of modular small rooms slightly larger than the size of a single bed. The rooms are stacked in rows one above the other, and offer very basic services like wifi and maybe a TV.
Capsule hotels were designed to meet the needs of those businessmen in town just for one or a few nights looking for a cheaper solution than a full-fledged hotel.
Incredibly enough, a sort of second class version of capsule hotels also exists in Tokyo. The images in South Korean photographer Won Kim‘s new series Enclosed: Living Small show the guests of one such facility, which takes up a whole floor of an office building. The tiny rooms are located along the floor’s hallways and are separated by unfinished plywood only, they have no windows and a curtain for a door.
These accommodations are mainly used by young people traveling or in between things who need a temporary stay – but temporary can mean weeks while they look for a new job or save money to afford a better place. Won’s intention in creating this series was to examine how these spaces, as tiny and uncomfortable as they are, can reflect the personality of those who occupy them:
“Some of the interiors are spartan, perhaps occupied by people who are staying only for a short time. Others are full of possessions, often complete with hanging wardrobes and improvised bookshelves – even ‘decorated’. Of these, some are neat and orderly and others are chaotic, with personal items strewn everywhere. In each case, the sharply-defined space and its contents tell something about its occupant’s personality, and his or her ability to function in such a strange, enclosed environment”.
Keep looking...

Alejandra Carles-Tolra Introduces Us to the Imaginative World of Jane Austen’s Biggest Fans

Submit to #FotoRoomOPEN and Have a Solo Exhibition at Fotogalleri Vasli Souza

FotoCal — Photography Awards, Grants and Calls for Entries Closing in October 2018

Sushavan Nandy Photographs the Indian Islands Disappearing Due to the Sea Level Rise

Tomer Ifrah Visits Astana, Kazakhstan’s Planned Capital City

The Space Between Us — Evan Walsh’s Portraits Test the Expected Boundaries of Male Friendship

FotoFirst — Felipe Romero Tells the Macabre Story of the Bodies Emerging from the Magdalena River
