Maurizio Pollini is truly magnificent.
This photographic work is composed of roses at Kyoto Botanical Gardens, photographed on May 10 and May 20, 2026.
May 10.
A perfectly clear day without a single cloud.
I took the Shinkansen from Osaka to Kyoto and entered Kyoto Botanical Gardens as the very first visitor at opening time.
On that day, the rose garden was still on its way toward full bloom.
It was like the very first step of roses beginning to bloom.
Roses not yet fully opened.
The sign of life moving toward full bloom.
The light of a clear morning.
All of this overlapped with Pollini’s Bach.
May 20.
This day, too, was perfectly clear, as if arranged by heaven.
The rose garden at Kyoto Botanical Gardens had reached full bloom.
The rose garden on May 10, before full bloom.
The rose garden on May 20, in full bloom.
Both days were clear, as if by heavenly arrangement.
By bringing together photographs from these two days, I composed the movement of the roses at Kyoto Botanical Gardens, from the beginning of bloom to full bloom, into one work.
The music is J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, performed by Maurizio Pollini.
No.1 Prelude.
No.1 Fugue.
No.2 Prelude.
No.2 Fugue.
No.3 Prelude.
No.3 Fugue.
Pollini’s Bach is transparent, disciplined, and clear.
Yet it is not merely pure.
It possesses an unshakable structure and a strength rising from within.
The rose garden before full bloom.
The rose garden in full bloom.
May 10, when I entered the garden first at opening time.
May 20, when the roses were in full bloom.
These two cloudless days are joined into one time through Pollini’s Bach.
This work is a photographic work of light, created from the roses of Kyoto Botanical Gardens and Bach performed by Maurizio Pollini.

Photography: Roses at Kyoto Botanical Gardens
Dates photographed: May 10, 2026 and May 20, 2026