For Far from Home, Belgian photographer An-Sofie Kesteleyn shadows eleven-year-old Yuna, a Japanese girl living in Tsu National Hospital, where she is treated for obesity alongside four other young women.
The photographer was drawn to Japan in part for its reputation for healthy living and the recent influx of fast food restaurants into the country. After researching obesity in Japan, she got in touch with the hospital through a Japanese friend, ultimately gaining almost unlimited access to the facility and its patients. Although a language barrier stood between Kesteleyn and her young subjects, she communicated openly with them through gestures and expressions and occasionally referred to her dictionary, which she kept on hand. For some unspoken thread of empathy and understanding, the photographer was pulled most heavily towards soft-spoken Yuna, who spent her days at the hospital mostly alone. (by Ellyn Kail, Author at Feature Shoot)
Published in Featureshoot.com