In Japan, natural mineral hot springs are found throughout the country. Sacred places in the Shinto religion, these baths are a link between people and the fragile physical world. For the past few years, French photographer Lucille Reyboz has travelled to these hot springs - called onsen in Japanese - drawn by their strange and otherworldly atmosphere, their evocation of ancient animistic beliefs. Reyboz photographed Japanese women in these age-old baths, capturing them in moments of complete abandon, melting with nature, almost as though experiencing a return to the womb. Even in cities like Tokyo, where concrete and steel reign, the quest for nature induces people to create artificial springs that become havens in the urban chaos.In her delicate, sensual and intimate photographs, Lucille Reyboz invites us on a journey into a secret, mystical Japan.
