FOUR DUCKS AT THE WATER'S EDGE

Four mallard ducks cluster at the shallow margin where water meets earth, their green-headed plumage and brown bodies reflected in the still surface. Kasamatsu composes the birds with careful attention to their spatial arrangement — how they orient relative to one another, how they relate to the water's edge — rather than imposing a conventional flock pattern. The intimate scale and close framing reflect his approach to bird subjects in his later sosaku-hanga work, where natural observation took priority over decorative convention.