In Praise of Shadows

Developed in response to ISTD’s 2025 prompt “Books Still”, In Praise of Shadows adapts the Jun'ichirō Tanizaki’s 1933 essay of the same name and explores the relevancy of books as a medium within the digital age.

The publication itself represents the timeless clash of traditionality versus modernity. This motif is drawn from the essay’s content which itself was translated to English from its orginal Japanese text using two different models of ChatGPT. Portraying the cultural juxtaposition between the reverence Japan once held for the darkness and the West’s desire for light, the book personifies Tanizaki’s laments through its use of san-serif typography against uncoated paper stock.