Inspired — With Elias Ben Chaabane

By Axel Lindgren

After months in Tokyo working on photography commissions for Japanese designers, Elias found himself increasingly drawn away from the city. “I get inspiration from the city, but I can’t process it here,” he says. “There’s too much noise. I need to be near water, sand, stone. I want to walk barefoot.”

I meet with Elias on a video call from Tokyo, where he has been living and working the last five months. Much of our previous conversation has been around the subject of nature as a source for creativity and I ask him if his sense of nature has changed from living in a mega-city like Tokyo.

With everything from hand tufting rugs to radio journalism on his resume, stagnation is the last thing that you can accuse Elias of, but he also sometimes questions his own ways. ”Something that struck me here in Japan is there’s a mentality of mastering things”, he says. ”Whether it’s fine art or making noodles, there is a pride in sticking to your work and perfecting a craft. I find that really inspiring, even though I don’t think I could work that way myself. I find it way too fun to start up new things!”

Photo: Elias Ben Chaabane

Much of Elias’ recent thoughts have been shaped by the landscapes of Japan. He talks about forests in Kyoto that look almost fake in their vibrancy. “I’ve never seen so many shades of green in one place,” he says. About the warm ocean wind on Tokashiki, a small island close to Okinawa, that carries the same scent as his childhood summers in Tunisia. ”It’s almost uncanny how a scent can transport you somewhere, unlocking things in my mind that were there all the time but somehow hidden.”

Photo: Elias Ben Chaabane

When I sit and look at the ocean, for example, I often get a sense of unreality. It’s not that it's just pretty, but it feels almost unreal that I’m actually there. It’s overwhelming, in a good way.

I ask Elias about the beauty of nature and why we are drawn to it, but he doesn’t quite agree with the underlying assumption in the question. ”I don’t really see it that way. There are things that we all somehow agreed that it’s nice, like a viewpoint or a sunset, but I feel like that is more a convention than anything else. When I sit and look at the ocean, for example, I often get a sense of unreality. It’s not that it's just pretty, but it feels almost unreal that I’m actually there. It’s overwhelming, in a good way.”

Photo: Elias Ben Chaabane

There are a lot of contradictions in Elias’ approach. Admiring mastery while constantly taking on new disciplines of work. Talk about the importance of nature while living in one of the world's most densely populated areas. And maybe the energy comes from the contrast and the unsettled. In an age of optimization, of (allegedly) shrinking attention spans, there’s something quite refreshing in letting more than one thought exist at the same time.