The photographs in “Always Dream,” Yoshihiko Ueda’s new photobook, were all shot in China between 1990 and 2011, while Ueda worked on several advertising campaigns for an oolong tea made by Japanese beverage giant Suntory.
Though the reason for Ueda’s being in China may be strictly commercial, the photographs in “Always Dream” possess a serene beauty. During his travels around the country—including places like Shanghai, Shenyang, Guilin and Dalian—Ueda connected with local people, local artists, and local nature, and in the book incidental encounters take turns with organized (though not less stunning) shoots with subjects such as ballet dancers or models.“On a main road lit by the slanting golden rays of twilight, a little truck giving a lift to a lot of young men and women in the truck bed was driving towards us from the other direction. As we passed each other, I caught a glimpse of the lively expressions on their faces shining with the red light of the setting sun behind them … As I looked at them in that moment, I became aware of my own feeling of joy at being alive. I wonder why it was? Where did that feeling come from?” …
I described that time as a miracle age, but even now I'm hoping to hear people casually say, ‘No, look! It's an even more miraculous age right now.’”
― from Yoshihiko Ueda’s afterword “Suntory Oolong Tea: Journey to a Faraway Land”