Heavi (hebi=蛇=snake) ly Thirst

Japanese-born Kenji Nakahashi settled in New York in the 1970s and lived there until his death in 2017, finding inspiration in the city around him. His street photography captures serendipitous scenes, heightening their humor or strangeness through wordplay. A surprising image of a man helping a snake drink from a cup plays with the similarities of “heavy” and the Japanese word for “snake.”

Nakahashi experimented with photography and printmaking, as well as painting and drawing. His work across mediums is unified by a fascination with daily life, environments, and objects, revealing situations to be both humorously mundane and enigmatically beautiful, and challenging the viewer’s expectations in the process.