JTF (just the facts): Published in 2025 by Photobook Daydream Editions (Instagram link here). Softcover (9.8 × 6.9 inches), 80 pages, with 62 color photographs. In an edition of 50 copies. (Cover and spread shots below.)
Comments/Context: The Los Angeles-based photographer and photobook collector Andrew Seitz has turned his passion for photobooks into a platform for publishing the work of young artists. In about a year, he has released half a dozen titles featuring the images of a new generation of Japanese photographers, like Fumitsugu Takedo (reviewed here), Satoh Kakeru, and Tetsuta Tsurumoto (reviewed here). The imprint focuses on contemporary photography, often with an experimental edge, and has gained attention for its limited-edition releases and thoughtful design choices. One of the recent books features the work of Madoka Hasegawa, offering a diaristic meditation on the act of seeing, filtered through the lens of the most ubiquitous tool of our time: the smartphone. Naturally, the book brings together Hasegawa’s iPhone photographs – her preferred way of shooting.
Titled (Hello, it’s me), the photobook is modest in scale, spiral-bound, and has a tactile softness that makes it feel almost like a personal notebook. A photograph of a staircase inside a building, with a cat sitting at the very top, takes up the entire cover. The artist’s name and title are placed on top in different colors (to contrast with the shifting tones of the picture underneath). All the images are printed full bleed, and there are no page numbers, captions, or texts, creating an uninterrupted visual flow. Hasegawa’s choice to use an iPhone as her primary tool is echoed in the book’s design ethos: accessible, unpretentious, and personal.
The title of the book – (Hello, it’s me) – is a gentle nod to the dual function of the phone as both camera and communication device, and in a way frames the project as a version of visual voicemail. “Say, ‘Hello, it’s me,’” Hasegawa writes, “I’ll answer your call while I’m taking pictures.” With this intent, the viewer becomes a participant in this quiet exchange, invited not just to look, but to listen.
Hasegawa’s photographs, all shot with an iPhone, are unassuming yet deliberate. Her images are rooted in the everyday: a row of vases with various flowers on the window sill, items with price tags sold at a second hand store, a cat looking out of a window, a bulldozer at work, a friend across the table photographing his food, but also various views of nature and landscapes. There is no attempt to elevate the mundane; rather, the mundane is allowed to speak for itself. The sequencing is loose and intuitive, echoing the rhythm of memory rather than narrative.
A full spread shows two children seated in a swan-shaped boat on a circular amusement park ride, surrounded by other whimsical vessels and a brightly painted central structure; it feels both nostalgic and dreamlike. It is followed by the image featuring a collection of dolls and their outfits displayed in bright packaging, with Japanese text and age markings visible.
What makes (Hello, it’s me) quietly compelling is its refusal to perform. There is no spectacle here, no grand gesture. Instead, Hasegawa leans into the intimacy of the medium. The iPhone, she writes, is “just right for me.” This sentiment permeates the work—it is a book about comfort, about the smallness of moments, about the act of looking without expectation.
In the context of contemporary Japanese photobooks, (Hello, it’s me) also aligns with a lineage of personal, lo-fi publishing, yet Hasegawa’s voice is distinct in its softness. There is no urgency here, only presence. (Hello, it’s me) is another strong book from Photobook Daydream Editions. It is a tender, unpretentious book, it asks little of the viewer, and in doing so, gives much. True to the spirit of their publishing initiative, Photobook Daydream Editions sells their books directly through Instagram – an informal, community-driven channel that reflects their commitment to accessibility, discovery, and the joy of finding something special off the beaten path. Photobook Daydream Editions continues to carve out a space for emerging voices in contemporary photography, reminding us of the value in small-scale, artist-led production.
Collector’s POV: Madoka Hasegawa does not appear to have consistent gallery representation at this time. As a result, interested collectors should likely follow up directly with the artist via her Instagram page (linked in the sidebar).
