Born in Kyoto in 1951, Keiichi Tahara moved to France in 1971. He began his career as a photographer, captivated by the piercing light of Europe that is compared to the soft light of Japan.
In 1977, at the age of 26, he won the Grand Prix of the International Festival of Arles for his series Window, 1973-1981 which propels him to the forefront of the international scene.
Based in Paris until 2006, Tahara worked on projects for the French government in a wide range of genres such as photography, sculpture, installation and architecture under the theme of "light". He has organized numerous exhibitions in Japan and Europe.
He has received numerous awards, including the Kimura Ihei Photography Award, the Prix Nicéphore Nièpce, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de France, and the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris.

The VLC Gallery by AKIO NAGASAWA gallery presents this series.

For more information, please click here

The Museum - Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, called TOP Museum - presents a retrospective titled "Masahisa Fukase 1961-1991 Retrospective" from March 3 to June 4. By focusing on his personal life, Masahisa Fukase carved out a unique place for himself in the history of Japanese photography of the 1960s. Exploring the origins of photography, Fukase developed a major practice within a group of artists associated with what was later known as shi-shashin ("I-photography"). Fukase pointed his camera at his immediate surroundings, including his wife and family. While exposing his own private life, he consciously explored the madness that lay dormant deep within himself. This madness has spawned remarkable and unparalleled works that combine Fukase's loving regard for his subjects and his carefree sense of humor.

This exhibition presents a substantial body of work, including pieces from the museum's collection drawn from major works by Fukase, such as "Yūgi (Homo Ludence)", "Yōko", "Karasu" (Ravens) and "Kazoku " (Family). Other notable works include "Yōko" (part of the "From Window" series), "Karasu" (Ravens), acquired by Nihon University College of Art in the early 1980s, as well as "Bukubuku" and "Sasuke", both of which come from a private collection. Retracing Fukase's trajectory from the 1960s to the early 1990s, the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to discover the unique universe of the artist.

Chapters
1｜”Yūgi [Homo Ludence]”
2｜”Yōko”
3｜”Kazoku [Family]”
4｜”Karasu [Ravens]”
5｜”Sasuke”
6｜”Aruku me [Walking Eye]”
7｜”Shikei [Private Scenes]”
8｜”Bukubuku"

For more information, please click here

Mayumi Suzuki was born in 1977 in Onagawa City, Miyagi Prefecture, and currently lives and works in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating, she worked as a freelance photographer, focusing on portraits. The Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. Suzuki's hometown of Onagawa was destroyed by the tsunami and his parents lost their lives. Since then, she has often returned to her hometown to record the efforts of locals to emerge from the disaster. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography in the Department of Photography at Nihon University College of Art.

Suzuki's recent solo exhibitions include "The Restoration Will/The Place to Belong" (2018, Galeria Miejska Arsenał, Poznań, Poland), "The Restoration Will" (2018, SPAZIO LABO, Bologna, Italy), "The Restoration Will" (2017 , REMINDERS PHOTOGRAPHY STRONGHOLD, Tokyo).
Group exhibitions include KYOTOGRAPHIE “10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers” (2022, HOSOO GALLERY, Kyoto), “Biennale de Photographie en Condroz” (2021, Belgium) and “Twilight Daylight Contemporary Japanese Photography vol.17” (2020, Tokyo Museum of Photographic Art, Tokyo).

Suzuki was awarded the best photography book of the year PHotoESPAÑA 2018 (2018, Spain) and was selected as the grand prize for the Photobox (2018, Italy), among others.

The first series of Mayumi Suzuki, The Restoration Will, was an intimate work in which the artist calmly accepted the events that had befallen him and his family following the Great East Japan Earthquake, and gently but bluntly raised his head to watch and move on. His next series, leaf, which means "fertility" in English, is also based on her own experiences. Today the artist Mayumi Suzuki presents this series at the KANA KAWANISHI PHOTOGRAPHY gallery.

Artist Mayumi Suzuki talks about this project

In Japanese, 豊穣 (HOJO) refers to abundant land or a good harvest. In English, it is usually translated as "fertility". In Japan, women are traditionally worshiped as goddesses of HOJO. The ideal being endowed with abundant harvests and many children were associated with it.

This project is based on my experience of in vitro fertilization (IVF), which I started at the age of 41. I try to acknowledge my existence as an "outlier". Photographing myself in the dark with a spotlight on me and an exposure of about 60 seconds gave me time to look at myself long and hard. At times, it reminded me of the anxious moments in the doctor's exam chair, the pain of egg retrieval, and the low anticipation of implantation. At other times, I felt a sense of calm.

The doctor uses 60 seconds to examine the patient on the examination chair. It doesn't take long to examine each woman. Many of them come to the clinic, one after the other. I had hoped to be examined more carefully. Coming home from the clinic, at the market, I found misshapen vegetables that had not been sold. They looked miserable, like my own inability to conceive. So I thought of photographing and handling each vegetable gently. For the process I use direct positive paper and work with a 4x5 inch camera. This method allows me to control the exposure to recreate the time of an examination in an IVF clinic.

I also used photos of fertilized eggs that I received from the clinic. These are raw, pixelated images. According to them, it is difficult to tell the difference between a fertilized egg that can allow you to get pregnant and one that does not. When you zoom in, it's just a point. If there is a factor in the hundreds of millions of cells in my body that is preventing me from conceiving, I need to look for that outlier. I remember endless barren lands.

Nowadays, women can choose how they want to live. But sometimes they have to accept a fate over which they have no control. Even if my own body isn't "fertile", I want to be proud of it because it's my life.

For more information, please click here

Osamu Kanemura is known for his solid photographs of cityscapes and alleyways cluttered with electrical wires, billboards and buildings. But in recent years, he has also devoted himself to the exhibition of drawings, collages and videos. This exhibition will include a video installation and collages of newspaper and magazine clippings.

MEM is a local gallery affiliated with 2023 Yebizo Meets, and this exhibition will be organized in collaboration with the Yebisu International Festival of Art and Alternative Visions 2023.

For more information, please click here

IBASHO is proud to present the second solo exhibition at the gallery of Japanese photographer Yoko Ikeda. The exhibition coincides with the launch of his new book "Counterpoint", which is a co-production of IBASHO & the(M) éditions. Like the book, the exhibition will be a showcase of Ikeda's work

Ikeda was born in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. She works and lives in Tokyo. She studied at the research department of Tokyo College of Photography. In 2013 she received the Philadelphia Museum of Art Purchase Award and in 2016 she received the prestigious Higashikawa New Photographer Award. In 2018, Ikeda received the Alpa prize for his work presented at Photo Basel. Ikeda's work has been widely exhibited in Europe, the United States and Japan. In 2015, the year Mons was European Capital of Culture, her work was part of Regards de femmes at the Maison Folie.

Inexpensive transparent plastic parasols placed on the gray concrete; rather simple and mundane objects in one of Yoko Ikeda's photographs. The image that Ikeda has made of this scene is nevertheless poetic, fragile, almost ephemeral. She has the extraordinary ability to see the beauty of seemingly meaningless objects and elevate them to beautiful, treasured subjects in her photographs. His images show respect for every little element that makes up our big world. Ikeda plays with the shadows, colors, lines and textures she encounters while moving and observing everyday life.

By means of his camera, Ikeda created his own way of seeing and showing an outside world that one could not normally see. In Ikeda's compositions there is often no point of reference. The space is flattened and abstract, the place is ambiguous. She experiments with unusual viewpoints and focuses. Ikeda researches contrasts of form and light and uses unexpected framing.

For more information (in Japanese only), please click here

Since the 1970s, Masako Matsui has exhibited photographs taken in Portugal and former colonies, as well as abroad, with the aim of capturing the common emotions that exist in different politics, religions and cultures. This exhibition presents previously unseen photographs taken during a trip to Korea in 1981-82. This is the sequel to the exhibition titled "Winter WanderingsⅠ-South Korea,1981/82-" which was held in June 2022.

“When I first visited South Korea, it was a time when the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 and the Gwangju Incident in 1980 cast a strong shadow over the country. The audience was mostly male. In Seoul, patriotic songs were played before the theater opened and in the streets every night, and everyone stood up straight. From midnight to 4 a.m., no night out There was also a crackdown on long hair that made no distinction between men and women.

Many young people wore camouflage uniforms and school uniforms. It was a heavy winter journey that made me realize that the country was on a military truce. He showed a simple appearance which is different from Korea, who has been feeling rigid lately. What you will be able to see during your trip will be a moment on the spot. The city, like a living being, always shows a completely different appearance depending on the era, season, day of the week, time of day, etc., even in the same place. And sometimes the vision is universal. In this unstable world where events beyond human expectations follow one another, I wondered if it was significant to expose a certain moment in the country where I once traveled, because it has disappeared. I wanted to make everyday moments exist through photography, this place at that moment.

Location: Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan, Jeju, Mokpo, Gwangju, Jeonju, Suwon. (Masako Matsui)

For more information (in Japanese only), please click here

Presentation of the exhibition by the museum

Since Rika Nogichi received first prize in the photography category "the 3.3m2 Exhibition" in 1995 and the New Cosmos of Photography competition in 1996, she has been considered one of the greatest contemporary photographers in Japan, with her photographs and his video works presented in numerous exhibitions, both nationally and abroad. Through series such as Premium (from 1997), I Dreamed of Flying (2003) et The Sun (2005-08), To the Night Planet (2014-15), his work explored the relationship humans have with unknown realms such as underwater, high altitude places and outer space. In recent years, through an exploration of the countless little enigmas that dot our daily lives and our immediate environment, she has pursued a form of photographic expression that frees the senses and imagination of the viewer.

From her first series to her most recent pieces, this exhibition brings together works from the entire career of an artist who has been producing photos and videos for more than thirty years. These are not presented in chronological order but rather in a non-linear arrangement that allows the works to better speak to each other, showing them in a new light. Combining photographs, video works, drawings and more, and guided by the "small miracle" of how photography is able to transcend time and space, the exhibition presents the different scenes and places that Rika Noguchi has encountered throughout his years of work, from the first series To Dive (1995) to his most recent work, A Palm Tree (2022). Visitors encountering the unique expressiveness of Noguchi have the opportunity to re-examine the significance of the various life forms existing in this world and reflect on what the mysterious power of photographs and video is all about.

Rika Nogichi
Born in Saitama City in 1971, Rika Nogichi began practicing photography in 1992, developing a practice centered on exhibitions. She has participated in many international art exhibitions. In 2002, she was awarded the 52nd Minister of Education's Art Encouragement Award for New Artists. His major exhibits inside Japan include the feeling that something is happening (Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art [MIMOCA], 2001), I Dreamed of Flying (The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 2004) and The light reaching the future (Izu Photo Museum, 2011-2012). His works are part of the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, the Guggenheim Museum and the Center Pompidou.

For more information, please click here

7 photo galleries (Blitz Gallery, Bloom Gallery, Kana Kawanishi Gallery, PGI, Poetic Scape, The Third Gallery Aya and Wadagarou) and 8 publishers/bookstores (FUGENSHA, Tsutaya books, Kana Kawanishi art office, Libro Arte, PURPLE / AKAAKA, Seigensha Art Publishing, Shelf, Torch press) gather at Hibiya OKUROJI, a place under the elevated railway tracks, where adult obsessions lurk in the depths of Hibiya, and a new art fair specializing in photography is launched in this weekend of October 2022.

Japan has the best printing technology in the world, the world's leading camera manufacturer, an incredible history of photobook publishing, and many outstanding photographers who have made a name for themselves in the history of photography. However, the local photography market has fallen in favor of Europe and the United States. Concerned about this situation, commercial galleries specializing in photography and publishers specializing in photo books are gathering here in order to bring a better future to the photography market in Japan. A new meeting place to discover.

For more information, do not hesitate to visit their Instagram (or their site below only in Japanese): click here

Artist statement
The mysterious herb "KON-TA-RA-E-RU-HA" [昆答刺越兒發], was featured in several Dutch medicine prescriptions during the Edo period. "Contra" means counterpoison and "yerba" is a herb in Spanish. This is the meaning of KONTARAERUHA.

I have followed the trail of KONTARAERUHA in old books of Dutch studies in Japan and books of herbalism or medicine written during the Great Discoveries, several plants sharing this same name appeared then disappeared. I got lost in the maze where time stretched 500 years from the XNUMXth century to the present and space stretched from Europe to Asia and America.

In my quest journey traces of this medicinal plant which is no longer used today, appeared in a network that formed over several hundred years including people in search of contrayerba and the exploitation of these plants as commodities such as spices or medicines traded all over the world. Beyond that perspective, we have missed aspects of plants as living organisms beyond the dimension of what we do with them as humans.

In the stratified forms of the forest where I have reached the end of the journey, our tangled interpretations around contrayerba have been re-visited to see not only the poison derived from categorizing the plant as its name suggests, and revisited as an unspeakable event created by the passage of geological time. This event is filled with echoes that linger after words lose their meaning, voiceless voices that would not be heard without sharpening our senses.

For more information, please click here

We no longer need to introduce Keizo Kitajima, a great Japanese photographer, who with Daido Moriyama opened the CAMP 'image store', a pioneering experimental space for photographers before the creation of the gallery system. In his legendary experimental series Photo Express (1979), Kitajima photographed people in bars and on the streets of Shinjuku at night and converted the gallery into a darkroom to do wall prints as a public performance event, and even released the images as a booklet instantaneous. Through these processes of immediate delivery of images, the artist explored the ways in which time affects photography in terms of documentation, recording and memory.

In the 80s, Kitajima spent six months in New York roaming its streets and hanging out in its clubs (series - New York- 1982). It presents a vision of 1980s New York, full of energy, decadence and moments of quiet desperation. Like the city, the publication is full of stark juxtapositions, flamboyant displays of outrageous behavior are shown alongside images of desolation and dejection. For this photobook, Kitajima received the important Kimura Ihei award in 1983.

For his edition - in)(between record vol. 46, Luigi Clavareau presents serigraphs executed with the collaboration of Keizo Kitajima at the PlaceM Yokohama gallery.

Shinichiro Uchikura, has been making photographic portraits since the beginning of his career in his studio. In natural light but in a studio setting, he photographs "ordinary" people, clients but with a prior vision of making artistic portraits of them. His portrait work has been recognized with awards such as Canon New Cosmos of Photography Honorable Mention (selected by Minoru Shimizu) and the publication of his photo book My Portrait (2020) by Akaaka Art Publishing.

With the subjects lit against a pitch-black background, Uchikura takes several hundred shots over the span of five to ten minutes, then selects the few unpredictable moments in which his subjects drop their masks and unexpected expressions appear. While the photographs meet the methodological conventions of standard "good portrait photography", they all have their own unique texture, their own unique "presence" on top of the captured subject, their own mysterious world.

In this exhibition, “The Floating Portrait”, Uchikura presents a set of previously unseen portraits showing a new evolution. In these photographs, taken from a height of about 3 meters, the subjects all have their eyes closed, and the unique atmosphere each has had since birth seems to be captured.

Uchikura says he created the photographs feeling "as if their presence was floating right in front of me" in "a dimension where even the boundary between life and death has almost disappeared". The presence of each individual emerging from the quiet world certainly feels like a mysterious presence emanating from the body.

Seven visions and seven photographic experiences

With Ken Kitano/Yuji Hamada/Miki Nitadori/Risaku Suzuki/ Kazuyoshi Usui/Yuki Ono dera/Naruki Oshima

The book consists of individual interviews with seven Japanese artists, based in Japan and France. They work together as an artist collective under the same name as the title of this book - Photography?End?. The members are: Yuji Hamada, Ken Kitano, Miki Nitadori, Yuki Onodera, Naruki Oshima, Risaku Suzuki and Kazuyoshi Usui. The interviews were conducted and edited by the exhibition curator Mitsuhiro Wakayama, which asks how artists came to embrace the medium of photography in the development of their work and what role this medium has played in their creation thus far. The book explores the work of each of the artists, revealing both their common and contrasting qualities as they are. The artists hope that this could be a starting point for the reader to discover or question what contemporary photography can be. Each of the interviews is accompanied by color and black and white photographs that illustrate the artists' respective works and creative processes.

"It's up to the viewer to answer the question of what exactly a photograph is." Yuji Hamada

——

“The photograph demonstrates the possibility that you and I are both 'points' of the same nature, coexisting on the same plane. » Ken Kitano

——

“Facilitating encounters between objects and people who come from different backgrounds fascinates me because it can open up new ways of thinking and seeing. » Miki Nitadori

——

“I just want to ask a question. I wonder "why" of photography. » Yuki Onodera

——

"Letting go of many conditioned thoughts, feelings and perceptions that you believe make up who you are - in a word, freedom." Naruki Oshima

——

"My interest lies in how best to unite pure vision with the voluntary act of producing a photograph and this motif runs through all my projects." Risaku Suzuki

——

“The lovable strength and weakness of humanity resides in the gray area after all. »Kazuyoshi Usui

For the special edition, click here

Book features
First printing｜1500 copies/Special printing 30 copies
Languages｜English/Japanese
Size｜A5, 148 × 210mm
Total number of pages｜196
ISBN｜978-4-600-00839-0

14 years after Tatsuki Masaru  has published "DECOTORA" in 2007 which documented the trucking community and their richly decorated trucks for 9 years, Tatsuki revisited them and created 12 new photographic images. These photos were exhibited during the inaugural exhibition at the Hachinohe Art Museum in January 2022. Side 2 Gallery is pleased to present 3 of the new works which are framed with sheet metal paint in the same colors as the trucks. Also shown are DECOTORA photographs from 2002-2005. The DECOTORA-Hachinohe book was published by T&M Projects in 2021.

Tatsuki Masaru (born in 1974) is a Japanese photographer who lives and works in Tokyo. Since his first project "DECOTORA" (2007) which documents a subculture of truckers, Tatsuki has presented 6 projects with 6 books. He is the recipient of the 2012 Ihei Kimura Award with "Tohoku" (2011).

For this series, Tatsuki spent 6 years capturing the Tohoku people and their landscapes that reflect ancient Japanese culture. In "kuragari" (2013), Tatsuki photographed the deer at night with a hand-carried flashlight. He awaits a sign of life in fear of the darkness of the woods revered by our ancestors. We will talk about this series soon in a podcast.

Tatsuki recently began photographing Jomon ceramic fragments from 10 to 000 years ago, wrapped and stored in museums. Tatsuki's research into folk myth and the reality of people's lives continues. Tatsuki's solo exhibition includes Yokohama Civic Art Gallery, Hachinohe Potal Museum. Recent group exhibitions include Hachinohe Art Museum "Gift, Gift, Gift", Museum of Fine Arts Boston "In the Wake", Aichi Triennale 2, Ashikaga Museum of Art "Blinking Skin, Life Shining through Death".

Gallery The Third Gallery Aya presents a solo exhibition of the work of Kikuji,KAWADA, titled "Chizu The Map", making it possible to discover his astonishing photographic debut in 1965 with the publication of Chizu (The Map), a collection of photographs turning memories of Japan's defeat into works of art. This photographer was a member of VIVO (1959-61), a photo agency formed with Ikko NARAHARA, EikohHOSOE, Shomei TOMATSU, AkiraSATO and Akira TANNO. These works range from silver prints from the 1970s to digital prints made in recent years.

A new edition of chizu was published by Getsuyo-sha (Japan) and Nazraeli Press (USA) in 2005, and a reprint by Akio Nagasawa Publishing was released in 2014. Last year, Mack (UK) and the New York Public Library (United States) released Kawada Kikuji: Chizu (Maquette Edition), a handmade restoration of Chizu by Kawada. All of his photo books, from the first edition to the recent mock-up edition, are presented in this exhibition.

Kikuji KAWADA was born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1933. He joined Shinchosha in 1955. He became a freelance photographer and co-founded the VIVO collective in 1959 with Ikko NARAHARA, EikohHOSOE, Shomei TOMATSU, AkiraSATO and Akira TANNO. In 1965, he published The Map, a groundbreaking photobook loaded with post-war political metaphors, and it continues to challenge our intellect with equally fresh and insightful imagery to this day. Kawada describes his work as "the expression of a specific scene in time and my relationship to it, framed accordingly, and the style born out of the exchange". These days, Kawada can be found posting images and photographic reflections on his Instagram account.

The photographer Kazuyoshi Usui presents his photographic works from his beginnings to unpublished photographs.

This photographer recently made the cover of Tempura Hors Série magazine "Eating Japan"    (https://www.tempuramag.com)

KYOTOGRAPHIE presents in its program: 10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers 

This event is co-organized by Pauline Vermare, independent curator and historian of photography (formerly cultural director of Magnum Photos and curator at ICP, New York) and the co-founders/co-directors of KYOTOGRAPHIE, Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi.

Through the series presented in the exhibition, we see a reflection and perspective unique to each photographer, whether they live and work in Japan or abroad. These powerful images will be presented in a scenography that embodies the KYOTOGRAPHY spirit and gives each artist their own personalized space, thanks to a versatile and durable structure, designed by Kyoto-based designer and architect Hiroyasu Konishi.
This exhibition is supported by Women In Motion, a Kering program that highlights the talent of women in the fields of arts and culture. Since 2015, Women In Motion has been a platform of choice for changing mentalities and reflecting on the place and recognition of women in the artistic fields.

“This exhibition is a manifesto for women photographers in Japan and for all Japanese women. » - Lucille Reyboz, co-founder and director of KYOTOGRAPHIE, co-curator of the exhibition.

“This exhibition resonates with the theme of KYOTOGRAPHY this year, 'One'. It is a celebration of the individual but also a celebration of each of their communities. » – Yusuke Nakanishi, co-founder and director of KYOTOGRAPHIE, co-curator of the exhibition.

“For a long time, Japan was seen through a male gaze, as if we had never actually seen it. As a historian, and because I am personally very attached to Japan where I grew up, I thought it was important to rediscover their work and show it to the world. » – Pauline Vermare, photography historian, co-curator of the exhibition.

These exhibitions are supported by Kering | Women in motion, , click here to know more

To see the program, click here but here are the details for your greatest pleasure:

- ZAIDO by Yukari Chikura
in video, click here
©Yukari Chikura

- Eagle and Raven by Ariko Inaoka
in video, click here
©︎Ariko Inaoka

- die of love by Hideka Tonomura
in video, click here
©Hideka Tonomura

- NEW SKIN by Mayumi Hosokura
in video, click here
©︎Mayumi Hosokura

- sawasawato by Noriko Hayashi
in video, click here
©Noriko Hayashi

- leaf by Mayumi Suzuki
in video, click here
©︎Mayumi Suzuki

- NEW RIVER by Ai Iwane
in video, click here
©︎Ai Iwane

- Negative Ecology by Tamaki Yoshida
in video, click here
©︎Tamaki Yoshida

- ILMATAR by Momo Okabe
in video, click here
©Momo Okabe

mutation by Harumi Shimizu
in video, click here
©︎Harumi Shimizu.

The Yumiko Chiba Associates Gallery | Shinjuku is delighted to host an exhibition of the work of photographer Shiho Yoshida to mark its selection as the winner of the 46th Kimura Ihei Prize.
Yoshida's photographic practice is distinguished by the unconventional technique of searching the Internet for information and images related to a place, actually going to that place to take photos, and constructing multi-layered works in which the photos, information and resulting images intersect. Her technique of moving back and forth between the opposite extremes of Internet search results and her own photos allows her to explore information spaces and photographs as images, as well as the hybrid materiality of photography. Employing this approach, Yoshida has produced work that consistently critiques the particular set of circumstances in which photography finds itself today. To celebrate his selection for the Kimura Ihei Award for Outstanding Young Photographers, this exhibition will feature the Survey: Mountains and The Whale under the Sand series for which Yoshida received the award. A conversation with cultural researcher and artist Hiroki Yamamoto will also take place during the exhibition.

Artist statement

" It is a great honor to have been chosen to receive the 46th Kimura Ihei Award.
The years 2020 and 2021 in which the judging took place were difficult years, sometimes making it more difficult than ever to produce and present a work.
It's now been six years since I first exhibited Survey: Mountains in this gallery, and I feel like the imaginary "mountains" in the work have continued to accumulate different elements and change shape over time. over time.
My intention is to continue to create new and unseen landscapes, keeping in mind the questions raised in the comments from the jury, namely what to photograph in a time when everyone is taking photos, which leads to a overabundance of images; and how to provide answers to this question by creating works from photographs."

To know more about the photographer, click here

Eight years after his last travel photo book “Short Trip Again”, Koji Onaka once again wandered the backcountry of Japan, observing it through a 35mm lens.
Photographed over a period of seven years, “Have a Break” features scenes taken in Hokkaido in the north, Kyushu in the south, and many other stations in between. Onaka's fondness for a particular and unique style of color adds to the sentimental, deep feeling of familiarity and warmth in his images, in which Koji Onaka transforms everyday sites in small towns and rural areas into curious visual marvels.

 “The photographs don't show anything particularly special that could be taken anywhere, but scenes that strangely touched my heart – cityscapes, people, sunlight or sometimes cats. » 

Koji Onaka

See the book in more detail, click here

Also available at: The New Clear Room ,  shashasha

You can find additional information about the artist by clicking here

Signs — 表徴

Fisheye #52 features a focus on Japan.

Japan, in all its diversity. An exploration of emerging Japanese photography continued in an offprint designed in collaboration with Women In Motion, the Kering program that highlights women in arts and culture.

In this issue of Fisheye, you can discover the following Japanese photographers

• Kenta Nakamura on the cover - www.kentanakamura.com 
• Akihito Yoshida - akihito-yoshida-en.myportfolio.com
• Kenya Sugai- www.kenya-sugai.com
• Momo Okabe - click here to discover his photography
• Mikito Tanaka - www.tanakamikito.com
• Satoshi Fujiwara- www.satoshi-fujiwara.com
• Shu Watanabe- https://watanabedesign511.com

KYOTOGRAPHY, held in the spring of each year, is a photography festival in the ancient city of Kyoto and is considered one of the few truly international art events held in Japan. The festival offers exhibitions of photography by internationally renowned artists in non-traditional formats in exceptional locations. A special photo festival not to be missed!

However, it is difficult to get around in Japan today, so do not hesitate to go to their site to be able to discover the exhibitions offered this year. Our site sugoi.photo will offer you in the coming weeks podcasts and articles related to the International Festival of KYOTOGRAPHY Photography. This year, the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary under the theme “ONE”

The Buddhist saying "One is ten" expresses the idea that what is unique, by internalizing the exterior, immediately becomes an embodiment of the whole, and only positions itself with others through this global attitude. "One" represents the individual and "Ten" is the number of wholeness, representing the whole.

The organizers / founders of this festival, Lucille Reyboz & Yusuke Nakanishi tell us about their choice and objective for 2022:

"In 2022, another war has begun. Attempts to justify war are inconceivable; war is never the solution. From humanity's bitter experiences of the past, we know that lives should never be sacrificed in the name of a totalitarian cause that deceptively claims to be representative of the whole. In 2022, with the 10th edition, KYOTOGRAPHIE wishes to celebrate the unique existence of each and our collective diversity. We hope that "ONE" is a opportunity to reboot, reconnecting the disconnected and seeking the rebirth of a peaceful post-pandemic world."

To see the program, click here

The photographer Naoki Honjo is known for his signature style of photography which uses a large format camera with a tilt-and-shift lens to capture cities as if they were dioramas. Evoking the feeling of a miniature world, Honjo blurs the lines between reality and fiction of the world around us.
This is the artist's first large-scale solo exhibition and will feature approximately 200 works, including previously unseen series, which together provide a comprehensive overview of his career to date. The exhibition also highlights new special works that feature the host cities where its exhibitions are held.

To discover the work of Naoki Honjo, click here

This book "Tokyo Silence" is a collection of B&W photographs capturing life on the streets of Tokyo between 2003 and 2006. Tokyo is believed to be one of the noisiest cities in the world, but through these photographs, I want to show the other side of Tokyo - for me it's a city where a strange silence reigns at the bottom of our life like water.

"During this period, I was crazy to travel to China. In China, everywhere you look is chaos. The screams of people in the crowded streets, car horns echoing in the gray sky, roaring loudspeakers scattered all over town - I absolutely loved those Chinese street noises and remember walking every day like it was struck by lightning.

After getting used to such chaotic noises in China, Tokyo's silence felt very unique to me. Every time I came back to Tokyo, I wondered how the city could be so quiet? Nobody talks on the trains, nobody shouts in the streets. Yes, Tokyo is also a noisy city, but I think the character of noise is inherently different between the two countries. Here in Tokyo, almost all noise comes from auto-playing music, such as background music from stores or video advertisements on giant screens. What would happen if all of the autoplay music was suddenly muted? Walking through the streets of Tokyo, I sometimes feel an illusion as if I were at the bottom of an aquarium, where a curious silence surrounds us.

Such a thought prompted me to photograph the streets of Tokyo, a Leica loaded with monochrome film in hand. I wanted to capture this characteristic silence of Tokyo, and the silence that settles deep within us."

Available at: Photobookstore ,  setantabook

You can find additional information about the artist by clicking here

IBASHO presents Hiromi Tsuchida's personal exhibition "A Retrospective". Tsuchida is one of the great masters of Japanese photography, producing unique works since the 1970s. He has uniquely managed to metaphorize the socio-economic orientation of his country through a number of techniques and approaches. Works from his flagship series “Zokushi","Counting Grains of Sand","Hiroshima-Collection" and "Hiroshima Landmarkwill be exhibited.

For more information, click here

You can also watch a video here

(Another) Praise of the Shadow
Japanese photography in the museum's collections

At the Réattu museum, in Arles, you are offered an exhibition of great contemporary Japanese photographers: Eiichiro Sakata, creator of astonishing portraits of artists; Kishin Shinoyama, master of the female nude and director of a fascinating series on a tattoo house in Yokohama; Keiichi Tahara and Senji Taniuchi, whose series Windows and Reflections breathe "Ma" (間), a purely Japanese concept merging the notions of time and space.
The title of the exhibition pays homage to the writer Jun'ichirô Tanizaki, author of Praise of the Shadow (1933), an essay through which he defends a certain idea of ​​Japanese aesthetics, which gives considerable importance to penumbra, chiaroscuro and the patina of things.

In the photographs kept at the museum, the shadow indeed plays its part as strongly as the light; it animates surfaces, organizes space, gives depth and mystery to images; it is not an absence of light, it is active matter, a space of suggestion through which anything can happen.

For more information, click here

PALAZZO AMALTEO / GRAND OPENING
Located in Venice in a listed palace from 1540, the Palazzo Amalteo opens a brand new exhibition space fitted out with the highest muzzle standards. The director, Jean-Michel Ribettes, is a contemporary art curator with extensive international experience (Fondation Cartier in Paris, PS1-MoMA in New York, Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo, etc.).

The program - contemporary art and architecture - is provided by a selection of international curators. Each of these signatures is invited to dare to be daring and even more to assume their own prejudices - far from the effects of consensus. Palazzo Amalteo's program is based solely on one principle of excellence: to surprise, upset and delight all at the same time.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the Venice Art Biennale in April 2022, the Palazzo Amalteo is making its Grand Opening.

GAY FABER
Du April 10 to May 1, 2022, as part of the cultural event Homo Faber in Citta, Palazzo Amalteo presents an exhibition entitled The Tale of Genji bringing together the recent works of the Japanese artist Kimiko Yoshida. Organized by the Fondazione MichelAngelo at the Fondazione Cini in Venice, the Homo Faber 2022 program has living treasures from Japan as guests of honor.

THE TALE OF GENJI
Photographer Kimiko Yoshida works in Kyoto with prestigious artisans, suppliers to the Imperial Court, to create a series of kakejiku (traditional Japanese scroll paintings that unroll to hang on the wall).

Kimiko Yoshida presents giant kakejiku (350 x 180 cm) made with all the silk traditionally making up a kimono; each silk strip is screen-printed with tone-on-tone lacquer with a pattern that requires 7 color passes.

Another series of large and medium-sized kakejiku features a double image. In the prestigious tradition of Japanese craftsmanship, old designs illustrating The Tale of Genji (narrative written in the XNUMXth century by lady Murasaki-shikibu) are applied with lacquer and gold powder on the artist's photographic self-portraits (pigment print on canvas). These “lacquered images” (urushi-e) thus present “double images” which quperpose, as if by transparency, an old image and a contemporary image.

To find out more about this exhibition:

https://amalteo.it/exhibitions/

https://kimiko.fr/project/urushi-e/

https://www.homofaber.com/it/in-citta

To discover the work of Kimiko Yoshida, click here

To learn more about Kimiko Yoshida, do not hesitate to read our article in the Stop Bath section or click here

Since 2002, Kei Ono started photography with two important series "The Glare of Youth" and "NEW TEXT" in which he photographed high school students all over Japan. As Ono travels around Japan to photograph subjects encountered on the web, he realizes that the construction of shopping malls is increasing everywhere. The shopping center, moreover, is already present in the photos of these two series, having become a place of life for these high school students whom Kei Ono photographs.
Capturing the images of this place of life that is the shopping center, Kei Ono makes us look at the changes in Japan and allows us to ask ourselves questions about our lives and our way of living.
In the 2010s, Kei Ono left the world of high school students to turn seriously to the world of the shopping center. The mall appears as a huge box suffocating people's desires and differences. Inside, human behavior is both aimlessly wandering and yet connected to everyday life. How does this place work, both city and landscape, a strange screen for the local landscape? And over time, some shopping centers are abandoned for other shopping centers that continue to be built.
This book of photographs is an attempt to fix an image of the shopping center as a new common place of men, and this, through 20 years of photography, allowing to see the social and human cycle inside and outside of this location.

What we have discovered was simply the world I lived in. Around the mall, new residences have been built. Along the streets are stores of major electronics retailers or fast food giants, and on the roads are the trucks that supply it all. OKAY. It's our world. I had perceived the men, my high school students photographs, as separate things when they were actually connected, and the mall was also part of that whole.
I was sure the medium format rangefinder camera was best suited to the theme. I've been using it since I was a student, and walked tirelessly with it and a collapsible tripod all over Japan. The nature of the project seemed to have expanded from portraits to include landscapes as well.

Available at: Akaka

You can find additional information about the artist by clicking here

“There are several reasons to move. In my case, one morning I was suddenly overwhelmed with the oddly compelling feeling that I shouldn't be here anymore.

In moving away, Japanese photographer Miyako Ishiuchi herself becomes the subject of her photography. In the three years between the sudden decision to leave the house she had lived in for 43 years and her actual move, she took a series of landscapes, street shots, detail shots and lives around her home and her neighborhood that all – either directly as a mirror image or indirectly – present her in some way. Ishiuchi documents the end of another chapter of his life with care, sentimentality but also resolutely positively.

“I have always believed that each photograph is a reflection of its creator, whatever its subject. So I never photographed myself intentionally. My photographs have always stood out from the essence of photography as documentation in order to evoke the extraordinary.”

 
Available at: The Clear Room

"Chicharrón" - winner of the Cosmos Arles PDF Award 2018 - features Hiro Tanaka's highly saturated flash photographs taken on the road in the United States. The photographs (mainly close-ups of objects, landscapes, humorous scenes and portraits) are presented as diptychs in the book.
Tanaka first came to the United States after winning a free trip at a mall raffle, then chose photography while traveling with punk bands.

“Poetry of Clothing” is a portrait of clothes: clothes as objects that transcend time and space. This exhibition captures the interaction between clothing and the calm and serene nature of Japan where the sounds of birds, rivers, wind and mountains permeate the garment. The subject of the works in this exhibition is a new garment whose focus is on the research of the material, the form and all this from a philosophical perspective of the Shinto costume which has been transmitted for more than a thousand years in Japan. In this exhibition, video works on the theme of admiration for nature that cannot be resisted and secret prayers dedicated to nature will also be exhibited. This exhibition is a photo and video work produced in collaboration with Dutch fashion designer Maryam Kordbacheh and Japanese artist Hiromi Kakimoto.

Clothing in collaboration with Japanese artisan Yoshida Shozoku. With the support of MonoJapan. Funded by Dutch Stimuleringsfonds.

To discover the work of Hiromi Kakimoto, click here

HRD Fine Art presents a personal exhibition by Takashi Suzuki, entitled “Are you my echo. ". This exhibition is presented as part of the program of "KG+ 2021", a satellite event of the "Kyotographie International Photography Festival".

Takashi Suzuki was born in Kyoto in 1971. He studied photographic art at the Art Institute of Boston in the United States and at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf in Germany, and is now based in Kyoto.

Suzuki's main interest lies in the act of seeing/looking, and its relationship to human perception and understanding. His creation is multi-layered, using not only photography but also objects and video in order to present the discrepancies and discrepancies between real phenomena and the images that capture them, as well as the fluctuation in human perception caused by such discrepancies and deviations.

In recent years, Suzuki has worked on constructing the space by adopting the montage method, assembling different artworks and transforming the entire gallery into an experimental space/artwork. Suzuki always picks a specific keyword to define a specific display, and for this solo show, the keyword is “echo.” Within the more than 90-year-old machiya townhouse, the phenomenon and concept of “echo” produce complex reverberations.

 
 
A virtual visit is offered on video (only in Japanese): click herei
 

To discover the work of Takashi Suzuki, click here

Mari Katayama, polymorphous artist, combines sculpture, couture, performance and photography in an intimate work that questions the viewer about their own relationship to the body.

For more information, visit the MEP website: click here

This summer, Yumiko Chiba offers you an exhibition of photographs that makes us reflect on what photography is.

The history of photography is the story of invention as a technology of reproduction and recording, but also the story of a new mode of expression in the world of art. In doing so, photography acquired unprecedented expressiveness, politics and technical experimentation. The history of such photography must have been an attempt to explore and constantly update the questions "what is photography" and "what can be done with photography".

This exhibition features photographic works by Ryudai Takano (currently on display at the National Museum of Art), Osaka, Jiro Takamatsu, Yuki Onodera, Osamu Shiihara, Wols and Eugene Atget.

Through the work of these artists who expanded the possibilities of photography as a medium, one can discover experimental photographic works that today position photography as an important means of expression in the world of contemporary art.

“HESTER is the title of one of my photographs featured in this book and is originally a character in the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. I'm drawn to this particular fictional woman, Hester, because of her extreme nature; she is outgoing, aggressive and chaotic, but also sensitive, loving and charming.

With great affection, I could call all the women in my photographs 'Hester'." - Kumi Oguro.

For several years, Kumi Oguro has pursued a photographic project centered on the creation of scenes including female figures. His compositions awaken the imagination and the unconscious of the viewer, connecting to a multitude of cultural references that each individual can hold.

The photographs are a point of stillness in a "world right next to ours", as Kumi Oguro describes it, where the mind will wander through its book of memory and thought. (text excerpt by Laura Barnicoat)

The texts of the books are by Alain Delaunois and Hans Van den Broeck.
Language: French, English and Japanese.

This "Truth is One" series was taken during a stay at Kriti Gallery & Artist Residency in Varanasi, India. Here are excerpts from the text describing the project, written by Okura Hiroshi (Sakyukan director, art critic):

"...As a young child, she (Mi Yeon) thought she was the only 'me', until one day when she was surprised to learn that there were other 'me's in the world... "

" The photos brought back from India by Mi-Yeon .../... seduce by their generosity, like an unlimited expansion of her first discovery of these other "me". Shimmering light on the Ganges, people wear, adorn themselves , rubbed with red, vermilion, crimson. The vivid light and color that pervades his photos are both true light and true color, and also light and color found deep within the “me” ( alone)” of each of the people coming to pray, bathe, linger by the river.../... The photos of Mi-Yeon, who began to visit sacred sites in places such as the Jeju Island and Okinawa, move like compass needles pointing to distant but very close places, unraveling the horses of human masses of individuals scattered along the way."

Complete original text translated into English: Here it is
 

"Cherry blossoms are so beautiful
that I don't think I've spent as much
time looking at anything else

Facing a saura tree
my eyes shift
from one petal to another
from one flower to another
until the whole picture is grasped

In 'SAKURA'
I attempt to visualize
the move of my observing eyes
and crystallizes the visual experience
of meditating and wandering upon
the blooming tree

as a result
the images show that
photography captures nog only
at a specific time
but also the passing of time"

- Yoshinori Mizutani
design by Akiko Wakabayashi
text by Yoshinori Mizutani in English and Japanese

This summer, IBASHO chose the theme 'Mizu', the word for 'water' in Japanese. As an island nation, Japan has a deep connection to water in various ways, creating a cultural history where water and life go hand in hand.

Among the featured photographers, contemporary Japanese photographers - Mika Horie, , Keiichi Ito, Miho Kajioka, James Osamu Nakagawa, Asako Narahashi and Toshio Shibata were chosen to show their gaze on water, "mizu".

The gallery tells us:

"In Japan, under the influence of the indigenous religion Shintoism, 'Mizu' is believed to embody the purity and flexible simplicity of life. A spiritual connection with elements like water is seen as a primary force in one's life. 'a Shinto priest. Similarly, waterfalls are considered sacred and standing under one is believed to purify the individual...'.

 
For more information and to continue reading, click on: #47 mizu
 

You can also see a video presenting the exhibition on the following link:

#47 mizu video

The relationship between humans and nature has been a main theme in Yasuyuki Takagi's photographic work. This photographer focused his attention on “the bohemian street gardens” of downtown Tokyo and this work was featured in his photo book ueki  meaning "small pots and gardens" (see books section)

This exhibition includes Polaroids and photographs of potted plants as well as research materials collected by the photographer. The aim is to reflect on the art and history of our “Ueki” culture and our links with plant life.

A walk in traditional Tokyo where the facades are adorned with small pots of flowers and plants.

Accompanied by a text by Philippe Pons and under the artistic direction of Eric Pillault

Take a minute to learn about the process of making and printing the book.

KAI Keijiro's works draw the viewer into the crowd during traditional rituals of combat or sport from around the world that predate our modern concept of "sport". By closely examining human interaction in these traditional settings, KAI's photographs offer us a glimpse into the very essence of human life.

Hauling the City is a series of black and white photographs of landscapes woven by electric poles and cables in the 23 districts of Tokyo. Makino shows that Tokyo has an electrical system, one of the least buried among developed countries in the world, presenting an incredibly chaotic landscape just by looking up.

At first glance, these images are full of humor and entertainment, but the urban landscape with straight lines and sprawling curves in the air reflects social conditions and brings a melancholy touch to the landscape.

You can see the exhibition in 3D: Click here

"My new book  The Dreaming includes 86 black and white images selected from my 27-year career as a photographer and traveler. When I turned 50 last year, I decided to sort all my black & white negatives. Every moment of my travels appeared to me like a vision of a dream. It was this thought that prompted me to write this book. "

-Yasuhiro Ogawa

From 2018 to spring 2020, Fugo and Uomoto worked together on this project where they took photos of their surroundings synchronizing each other when pressing the shutter button. They grouped these photos into 40 pairs and titled this series, together. There are juxtapositions of distant lands and domestic scenes but also some shots in the same city. People are born in different places; some extend their roots beyond their origins, while others relocate to different places. Life goes on but there are an infinite number of existing perspectives by looking at an infinite number of scenes simultaneously. In a COVID-19 world in which the distance between people has created existential anxiety, we hope it will at the same time create an opportunity to imagine these other perspectives in this world where we share time.

In 1989, when the Showa era in Japan changed to the Heisei era, I traveled to the UK and lived there for two years. Thinking about it, maybe I felt suffocated by the rise of the bubble economy in Japan.

Thirty years later, in 2019, in Japan, the era of Heisei changed to the era of Reiwa. I decided to hire a small car and drive all the way from Margate, the southern town where I first lived, in the far north of the UK.

Available at: PROM BOOKS et The Plac'Art Photo