Dried anchovies

"Dried Anchovies" presents what might seem an unpromising subject — the small, dried fish sold in bulk at Japanese markets — with the same attentiveness Bakufu brought to his magnificent live fish portraits. Dried anchovies (niboshi), used ubiquitously in Japanese cooking to make dashi stock, are among the most humble of marine products, yet Bakufu's careful rendering of their silvery, compact forms makes a case for the beauty hidden in ordinary things. The subject continues his lifelong engagement with the fish of Japan in all its forms.