Contemporary Japanese Photography vol.8 Voyage

Views of the World by Japanese Photographers

Dec. 19, 2009—Feb. 7, 2010

• Dec. 19, 2009—Feb. 7, 2010
• Closed Monday (Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday) ,from December 29 to January 1.
• Admission：Adults ￥700（560）／College Students ￥600（480）／High School and Junior High School Students, Over 65 ￥500（400）

This exhibition presents views from the travels of five Japanese photographers and a video artist: subjective and varied visions of the Japanese archipelago and other countries, urban scenes and faraway or even imaginary landscapes. Six Japanese artists, six concepts of travel.
Koji Onaka takes photographs of his “wanderings” all over the Japanese archipelago which he criss-crosses like a vagabond. More than a simple travel diary, his images lead us through an everydayJapan bound to disappear.
Toshiya Momose is fond of great metropolises: New York, Tokyo, Istanbul, Shanghai… From an over-populated India, he proposes, as he often does, eerily empty urban landscapes which, paradoxically, suggest all the better the presence of their inhabitants. A recognized photographer, adventurer in extreme conditions and eminent alpinist, Naoki Ishikawashows us Mount Fuji like we have never seen it before. His photographs taken while ascending the volcano unveil a harsh and dangerous mineral universe, far from the postcard clichés of this symbol ofJapan.
From the snowy lands of a small island north of Hokkaido to the subtropical landscapes of the Okinawaarchipelago, the theme of insularity is at the heart of Takeshi Dodo’s work. His images display his fascination for these territories which have remained isolated in spite of modernization, and where present and past are closely bound.
Sayuri Naito wanted to photograph Lisbon the way its inhabitants view it. But she knows how to reveal all the charm, beauty of light and mellowness of atmosphere of these places which might appear to us extremely ordinary.
Finally, world famous video artist Hiraki Sawa’s works invite us to travel through imaginary worlds. His videos are like chests whose treasures would be a half-real half dream-like world…
It is quite certain that these journeys were not very peaceful for such demanding artists. But their works make us want to discover these unknown lands ourselves, to look at our planet in a different way.