一 人暮らし Living Alone (in a dream)

by Audrey Gretz

A chilly but bright Sunday afternoon brought me to the other side of Tokyo—old buildings and crowded, dilapidated shopping strips. I met up with a friend to shoot a concept she’d been thinking on for a while. Seeing her new apartment for the first time, she warned me it was tiny and “nothing much,” but when she opened the door and revealed the pink, lace covered one room apartment I let out a gasp. Seeing her small, intimate corner of an intimidating and noisy city left such a big impression on me. I felt inspired and honored to be invited into her safe haven, hidden between the crowded crosswalks and noisy Izakayas. These photos are an ode to that warm feeling of finding your own spot within a hectic world. A corner to decorate with trinkets, create art in, share with friends, binge Netflix in. A space to breathe. 

photography and styling: Audrey Gretz

model: Ayu Watanabe

Audrey Gretz is a film photographer and collage artist living in Tokyo, Japan. She grew up in North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina  at Charlotte. Her photographs and collages have been published by magazines such as Luna Collective, ANON, and Atlantis. She is inspired by Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshitomo Nara, vegetables, run-on sentences, dinosaurs, and museums. She is always curious about the relationships between gender, identity, and culture, and is constantly exploring the emotional connectivities that art provides. She one day aspires to own a black cat named Jiji.