Navel gazing can get a little old, so, in the coming weeks (months?), as we find ourselves counting the hours till lunchtime on the sofa, we look for productive and creative ways to spend our days. In hopes of inspiring each other, we’ll be sharing some projects by photographers who have used the medium to explore the crevices and vistas of their home or neighborhood.

To kick it off, we take a look at one of our favorite photobooks from the last few years, GUTS, by Japanese photographer Masaki Yamamoto. Shot entirely in his family’s tiny apartment, walls yellowed from cigarette smoke, broken doors and trash covering the ground, Yamamoto’s unashamed, uncompromising black-and-white photos, nonetheless,  conjure a rare and sinewy braid of familial intimacy and affection. Not quite dysfunctional, but decidedly atypical. “As we grew up," says Yamamoto, "we had different experiences of being bullied, socially withdrawn, sick, badly behaved and so on. These experiences intertwined with the Yamamoto family history and are what makes up our lives as well as the family’s bonds today.”

GUTS is published by Zen Foto Gallery in Japan. We got ours via Charcoal Book Club.

See more from our Sheltering in Place series here.