Following his travels around Japan, during which he trained under legendary photographer Shomei Tōmatsu in Nagasaki, Yusuke Yamatani lived in Osaka for a year in 2010 and began photographing his everyday life in the city. The resulting visual record, fully shot on film, became his debut series and photobook Tsugi no yoru e [On to the Next Night], published in 2013. This present photograph of a man, arms outstretched, diving into the dark moonlit waters, is the first image in his photobook and epitomises his strong interest in capturing chance moments.

In documenting his friends and lovers, as well as the punks and skaters who populate his daily life, Yamatani has created lyrical images, stripping them of their association with time and place. Evoking a certain timelessness, these photographs look as if they could have been taken yesterday or twenty years ago.