Blossoms in Stillness

Amid the crowds of Tokyo's Chidorigafuchi, two sparrows settled quietly among the cherry blossoms. Captured in vertical perspective, the moment revealed a stillness that existed alongside constant movement, hinting at a new way of seeing.

Chidorigafuchi is one of Tokyo's most celebrated places for hanami, the tradition of gathering beneath flowering trees. Along the moat, people moved steadily past, voices rising and falling with the excitement of spring. Yet within that motion, the sparrows remained undisturbed, attentive to their small perch among the blossoms.

This photograph marked a turning point in my way of seeing, and in what would become Vertique. After decades of studying, living, and travelling in Japan, many ideas had shaped my perspective. Here, two began to settle into focus.

The first was yutori, the importance of space, patience, and attentive presence. Even in the busiest places, stillness reveals itself to those willing to pause.

The second was the Japanese art of kakejiku, the hanging scroll. Unlike the horizontal traditions of Western landscape, it guides the eye upward, inviting slow and deliberate looking. In these sparrows and blossoms, I recognised the potential of a vertical way of seeing that would later shape Vertique.

Through Vertique, this image became more than birds in bloom. It suggested a philosophy shaped by patience, presence, and vertical flow. In the quiet space shared by sparrows, blossoms, and passing crowds, I found the beginning of what Vertique would become.