Some photographers can wander city streets and find beauty in the most unlikely places. Their eyes are trained to see patterns of shadow, light, texture and odd juxtapositions. Their equipment is just a tool — whether it is a high-end film camera, and expensive digital SLR, or a convenient smartphone. What really matters is “seeing” something remarkable in the ordinary, and then somehow conveying their vision with others through the visual language of photography.

It is easy enough for almost anyone to take a “technically” perfect picture these days — digital cameras automatically adjust for sharp focus and the right light exposure. The real skill of a photographer lies in the ability to see something with an artistic eye and to frame it carefully — so everything inside the frame contributes to the art and success of the image, and nothing detracts or distracts from the intended vision.

This series by Japanese photographer Hajime Inomata is especially pleasing to many photography lovers because it “hangs together” with a consistent style and visual approach from one image to the next (they feel like they belong together somehow), and because they all share in the subtle themes of grids, lines and repetitions of objects. So, the photographer helps us transcend the ordinary and mundane by showing us how to see and enjoy something as simply beautiful as the silhouette of a bug on a window screen, or group of commuters walking through a train station.

— Jim Casper