Zen Foto Gallery

Showa 88

2011-12-15T22:13:00.005+09:00

Japan is vibrant, colourful, successful, romantic, dangerous, exciting.

Not the Japan you know?

Japan uses a calendar based on the reigns of the emperors. Currently (2011) we are in the 23rd year of the Heisei Era. The reign of the Emperor Hirohito was called the Showa era and lasted for the 65 years 1926-1989. Showa was everything Heisei is not: vibrant, colourful, successful, romantic, dangerous, exciting.

Many in Japan look back on the Showa Era with great nostalgia.

"Showa 88"（昭和88年） is Kazuyoshi Usui`s (薄井一議) latest project, and has taken the best part of a decade in its gestation. Imagine an alternative reality in which the Showa Era never ended. Showa 88 would have been the year 2013.

Kazuyoshi Usui`s first photo book "Macaroni Christian" (2006) had an austere black and white style reminiscent of his teacher Eikoh Hosoe (細江英公). "Macaroni Christian" was begun while Usui was still a student. In the decade since then Usui has twice won the Japan Advertising Photography Award. "Showa 88" was originally conceived as a series of images - a dying gangster sees flashes of his life passing before his eyes. In bringing "Showa 88" to its final form he decided that the power of photography lies more in suggestion rather than the cinematic conception of an explicit narrative, and in this lies the power and maturity of the work.

Much of the great photography of the Showa era is powerful black and white - just think of the representative work of Hosoe, Narahara, Moriyama and Araki. Colour is the challenge of the next generation, including Naoya Hatakeyama, Mika Ninagawa, Kawauchi Rinko and Lieko Shiga. In "Showa 88" he has made a significant statement in Japanese colour photography, and the images individually are very beautiful.

Not only beauty is in this book but on another level there are significant reflections on Japanese society and history. Japan transformed completely during the 20th Century as the Showa Era gave way to the Heisei era. The manipulative imperialist exploiter of Manchuria in the 1930s turned into the world`s most peaceful nation. The land of the high growth miracle is now the country where GNP has not grown for two decades. The aggressive copier of technology and Western institutions is now the most inward-looking of Asian nations.

And so, a book of great beauty and subtlety about a country feeling its way towards a new civilisation.

The book is available from Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo

http://www.zen-foto.jp

Featured on "One Year of Books" on tumblr:
http://oneyearofbooks.tumblr.com/post/14665923391/kazuyoshi-usui-showa-88

For Japanese readers please see Usui`s extensive interview with Yasunobu Ichii (市井康延) in DigiCame Watch (デジカメ Watch):

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/culture/exib/20111214_498277.html

Kazuyoshi Usui website:
http://kazuyoshiusui.com/

"Jizo" Dreams

2011-12-10T11:12:00.000+09:00

Satoko Noguchi (野口さとこ) travels Japan seeeking out the Jizo stone figures that stand by roads and paths throughout the country.

The result has been the exhibition and book published by Zen Foto, "Jizo Dreams" (「地蔵が見た夢」)

The Jizo of Japan are often found along paths and old roads, and loved by local people for protecting children. Many also look after travellers and firefighters, and are sought out by those who would know the meaning of their dreams. They comfort to those who have lost children, or babies who did not survive to birth.

Each region of Japan has their own traditions related to the Jizo. They often paint the Jizo`s face, so his expression changes over time. Satoko Noguchi travels the country seeking out Jizos. One of the photographs in this book shows a Jizo with closed eyes. When she next returned to visit him she was surprised to find that he had opened his eyes!

The Iron Age lasted around 500 years. The Bronze Age lasted over two thousand years. The stone age lasted over two million years. We are still getting used to metals, but as human beings we evolved with stone, and we are comfortable living with stone. The Jizo are our ancient friends.

Satoko Noguchi herself writes:

"For many years the Jizo has sat there, watching people pass by, comforted those who were sad, listened to their prayers and wishes, cared for children, and protected the land. The Jizo has had the fathomless compassion and tenderness to accept all and everything."

長い年月その場所で、人々の往来を見守り、悲しむ人をなぐさめ、願いに耳を傾け、子ども達をいつくしみ、
その土地を守ってきたお地蔵さん。そこには、温かく全てを受け入れてくれる何か底知れない優しさがあった。

Exhibition at Zen Foto, Roppongi Tokyo 1-7 Dec2011, "Jizo Dreams" book with photographs by Satoko Noguchi published by Zen Foto Gallery

"Hikikomori" among young people in Japan

2011-11-25T22:54:00.002+09:00

Around two years ago I popped into Nikon Salon in Shinjuku and discovered a fascinating exhibition by Keiko Nagatomi (永富恵子) on the people known as "hikikomori". Hikikomori are often young and male, who turn their back on society and become reclusive. They may spend many years indoors, never venturing out.

In Japan, Hikikomori are sometimes criticised, and made figures of fun. Keiko Nagatomi tries to redress the balance, with her photographs, and the words of the subjects, sometimes humorous, sometimes angry, always poignant.

We managed to publish a small book, thanks to Keiko and thanks to the organisation "New Start" that runs a facility to help sufferers return to society. The book is called:

永冨恵子「ニュースタートの若者たち: 引きこもりから社会へ」
Keiko NAGATOMI "A New Start For Hikikomori” - Returning to Society

As she worked with hikikomori she gained their trust over many months and paintakingly able to take their photographs and invited them to write some brief words about their experiences.

For more insights into the exhibition and Keiko`s work with hikikomori sufferers and "New Start" please also see her interview with The Daily Mainichi" News:

The official numbers certainly significantly understate the problem, as they only count people who have not set foot outside of the house at all in the past six months. Yet even the official statistics show that 700,000 young people in Japan suffer as hikikomori. There have always been people who preferred to stay at home, reclusive or agoraphobic, but the scale appears to have grown to significant proportions in Japan, perhaps signalling a problem peculiar to, and increasingly recognised in, affluent societies.

"Nekopathy" by Masayuki Nakaya

2011-11-17T23:12:00.001+09:00

I cannot claim any credit for finding the work of Masayuki Nakaya. I was looing at the "serious" photographs shown on the walls of the Yokohama Photo Festival. Little Bird was waiting patiently, flicking through some of the portfolios laid out in the side room.

When we talked about our favourite works of the festival She pointed to Nakaya's portfolio, which was more of a scrapbook of photographs of his life with his cats and his wife in a little Tokyo apartment.

His work very charming, humorous and human. At Zen Foto we show so much serious photography, much of it in the categories of Black and white, Japanese and Male - there is much great work That fits this description, but it can get rather heavy.

I try to have a balance of styles, with colour, Chinese artists as well as the mainstay classical black and white by Japanese artists. Nakaya's work is colour, humorous, light.

His work lifts us up, is cheerful. Many artists feel that they have to deliver a message, which is deep, introspective, challenges our preconceptions, and inevitably producing a feeLing of weight and seriousness.

Nakaya reminds us that life is to be lived and enjoyed, that we want to be happy even if we live in a grotty little apartment and cannot afford fine furnishings. His photographs are a joyful celebration.

I thought from the outset that his work would work well in a book. So we tried to keep the feeling of his scrapbook portfolio when we produced his book.

Doing an exhibition of cat photographs is also quite a risk for a gallery. How can a serious gallery devote an exhibition and a book to cats? I ask you!

ネコパシー　: 写真　by　中矢昌行　出版：ゼン・フォト・ギャラリー
"Nekopathy" by Masayuki Nakaya, Exhibition at Zen Foto 10 Sep - 13 Oct 2011

A Photographic Quiz

2011-11-13T00:14:00.000+09:00

What connects the following photographers?

1957 Yasuhiro Ishimoto (石元泰博)
1958 Ikko Narahara (奈良原一高)
1960 Eikoh Hosoe (細江英公)
1961 Tohmatsu Shomei (東松照明)
1961 Seiryu Inoue (井上青龍)
1962 Shisei Kuwabara (桑原史成)
1964 Yutaka Takanashi (高梨豊)
1967 Daido Moriyama (森山大道)
1967 Kishin Shinoyama (篠山紀信)

You will agree it is a fabulous line-up, and an era that must be seen in retrospect as a golden age for Japanese photography.

The dates give a clue, for they are the years in which these photographers received an award from the Nihon Shashin Hihyouka Kyoukai. (日本写真批評家協会) This organisation operated between 1955 and 1971. In hindsight it is easy to say these were obvious choices, but it is not at all easy to identify great photographers so consistently at an early stage of their careers.

Most of the award winners have gone on to greater recognition, in Japan and overseas, but one or two have been forgotten by all but the connoisseurs and their work deserves to be seen by a wider audience. I`ll return to this theme in a later post, and in future Zen Foto exhibitions.

Lin Shu

2011-10-20T10:21:00.000+09:00

Two of the challenges that photographers must overcome are to find their own unique mode of expression and to say something new about familiar things. The great mountains of central China, including Huangshan (黄山), Mount Emei (峨嵋山), Zhangjiajie (张家界), must be among the most painted, sketched and photographed views of all time. In another recent manifestation, you may be familiar with Huangshan from the film Avatar.

Lin Shu (林舒) is a young photographer based in Beijing. He was fascinated by the work of ancient painter/poet/philosopher Shitao (石涛). Shitao is familiar to Chinese and Taiwanese art students, and to knowledgeable experts, but I needed to refer to wikipedia, where I found that he was an innovator in introducing impressionistic techniques into Chinese painting over 300 years ago.

Lin Shu took on the challenge of producing works on these Chinese mountains:

He took an old Chinese brownie camera, brand name Hong Mei (literally "Red Plum"), with all its focusing and winding inaccuracies and light leakages, embracing the resulting imperfections.

He is teetering on the edge. He could have returned from these arduous journeys with his Hongmei to find no usable pictures.

I felt his works fitted into the message I was trying to put across at Tokyo Photo this year: the importance of respecting nature. A cliche, to be sure, but still vital to all our futures.

The scenes interpreted by Lin Shu are rare in today`s world in being essentially unchanged since the advent of mankind. His works in the forests surrounding these mountains also capture some of the mystery that I also feel from Takahashi-san`s photographs, discussed in my earlier post.

Lin Shu "Toxic" Exhibition held at Zen Foto held 10 Sep - 13 Oct 2011
Zen Foto monograph available via Zen Foto website:

To the Villages

2011-10-15T23:54:00.004+09:00

Kazuo Kitai, "To the Villages", Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Oct 1973

Kazuo Kitai (北井一夫) is getting some long deserved appreciation for his 1960s works "Teiko" (Resistance), "Barricade" and "Sanrizuka". The former dealt with student and worker protests in the 1960s when Kitai had just dropped out of first year at university. Of the photographers of the era known for this work, Kitai was the first and the one to photograph the actions from the inside. The justly famous works of Moriyama and Tohmatsu came a little later. "Sanrizuka" dealt with the protests against construction of Narita airport and has just been reissued for inclusion in a set of 10 Protest books selected by Martin Parr, and is the only Asian representative therein.

As an aside, Narita has long been cursed by travellers to Tokyo, for it`s inconvenience, adding 2-3 hours to the journey to central Tokyo. At long last the original airport of Haneda has been expanded to reassume the role of Tokyo`s major international airport.

As many other photographers got involved, Kitai became disillusioned with the protest movements and moved on to a new stage in his work. He came under the wing of Ihei Kimura, particularly during a visit to China in 1973. This led to a serialisation of the China photographs in Asahi Camera magazine. The popularity of this in turn led to requests for further serialisations, and Kitai started photographing rural Japan in earnest. By 1976 this had produced a major work he called "Mura E" (To the Villages). For this work and book of the same name he was awarded the inaugural Ihei Kimura Prize.

Kazuo Kitai "The Ferryman, Gunma Prefecture, Dec 1974" used as the cover image for the first publication of "To the Villages"

Kitai had grown up in downtown Tokyo, so this represented a discovery of the countryside, and the development of a style that became his defining characteristic. His use of wide angle lenses on his Leica makes people appear more distant than they really are. People and places are observed quietly, and with the utmost sympathy. The effect of distance reduces the feeling that Kitai is intruding. Rural Japan in those days was vibrant, many children play in the country lanes, or curiously watch Kitai, whereas nowadays it is hard to find anyone under the age of 70.

Kazuo Kitai "To The Villages" Okayama Pref, Apr 1974
One of his personal favourites

Kazuo Kitai, "To the Villages", Hachioji, April 1974

Kazuo Kitai, "To the Villages", Akita Pref, Oct 1975
One of the "Tohjiba" pictures. Tohjiba being the healing spas of rural Japan.

Kazuo Kitai, "To the Villages", Chiba Pref, Dec 1975

To be sure, rural life was no picnic, but in the depopulation of the countryside and the magnetic pull of population to the cities, Kitai`s work reminds us that much has been lost.

Natural and Unnatural Borders

2011-10-13T08:17:00.002+09:00

I met Shen Xue Zhe （沈学哲） in Beijing in the spring of 2010. The first photographs he showed me were photographs of shops, streets and farms in his home region of the far North-East China, neighbouring North Korea. I very much liked him and many of the photographs, but felt that he had yet to produce a major body of work.

The next time I met him, I knew he had achieved something substantial with his photographs of the Tumen River. Like many inhabitants of the region, Mr Shen is ethnically Korean. Many Koreans fled during the Japanese occupation of the peninsula, to form a large ethnic population in North-East China. Mr Shen`s first language is Korean, and we usually communicate in Japanese rather than English or even via Chinese. Two major rivers form a natural border between China and North Korea - the Yalu to the South-West and the Tumen (or Dooman) to the North-East. Of the two rivers the Tumen is narrower and shallower, so appears to be preferred by those seeking to leave North Korea.

Mr Shen`s photographs are taken with medium and large format camera, standing in China, looking over the Tumen River into North Korea, a place where fellow Koreans live, including relatives, with a common culture and language, but a place he can never hope or dare to visit. But his camera takes him some way there.

We plan to hold an exhibition of this series at Zen Foto in 2012.

Hunchun Bridge, destroyed during the Korean War to prevent Koreans escaping into China.

On the far bank you may be able to make out a couple of North Korean soldiers. If not, you can always come and see the print.

From China you can walk halfway across the bridge. Better stop there, about face and return.

Some Good Might Come out of this Nuclear Mess

2011-10-11T11:53:00.002+09:00

The earthquake this year told us about the power of nature, and the short memories of people. But if we are to be excluded from a 20-kilometer radius around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, could that area turn into something good? After Chernobyl the surrounding area was freed from human interference and saw a remarkable resurgence of wildlife. Similarly the no-man`s land in between South and North Korea has become a precious enclave of untouched nature. The Fukushima Daiichi 20km zone could become another special area, either given back to, or should we say, taken back by nature.

So I showed works at this September`s Tokyo Photo themed around nature. I chose four photographers` works for our main section, and will introduce them in separate posts.

Firstly Kazutaka Takahashi (高橋かずたか一隆) regularly ventures deep into the forests of Japan carrying his tent, tripod and medium-format camera, the sturdy Pentax 6x7. He captures something of the mystery and a sense of the world before humans dominated almost every part of it.

He was one of the photographers I met as a member of Place M in Shinjuku. His work made a strong impression on me, brooding and mysterious. The blackness of the prints is so intense I was asked whether he had applied a special treatment to intensify it. Takahashi-san has not had major exhibitions so far, perhaps because he does not promote himself, but I admire his persistent dedication to his subject and his craftsmanship.

restarting the blog

2011-10-09T13:11:00.000+09:00

A lot has happened in the six months since I last posted. I'm going to take it step by step and make a brief account of what we have been doing since the summer, the new exhibition by Lin Shu, Tokyo Photo and Taiwan Photo. But first just a note on a new idea we are exploring from today.

Japanese and Chinese photographers don't find much of a market at home, so eventually will need to get known overseas for two reasons. Firstly, the market for photography is far greater in Europe and the US. Second, the works are often more highly appreciated overseas than at home. Japanese artists often complain that, only once they start to be appreciated overseas, do they get recognition at home.

To explore ways of helping artists to develop their careers overseas, we make a very small contribution by starting a casual group - Photography in English - for photographers and artists at Zen Foto Roppongi this afternoon at 2pm. All welcome to this friendly group, free session.

『2011.03.11 14:46　-Images of Tohoku-』展

2011-04-22T16:21:00.000+09:00

開催概要：

2011 年4月15日（金）より 2011年4月27日（水）まで、『2011.03.11 14:46　-Images of Tohoku-』展を開催します。これは、2011年3月11日に発生した東北地方太平洋沖地震および東日本大震災における支援プロジェクトとして企画した展示です。国内外、約20名のフォトグラファー、ジャーナリストたちが捉えた地震と津波のリアル。町が崩壊される様子から、被災地で再び生活を取り戻そうとする人々の日常まで、幅広いスタイルや主題で表現されることでしょう。展示の目的の一つは、今回の地震によって東北地方が受けた大震災の影響を、東京で、私たちの目の前で、白日のもとに曝すことにあります。東北が被った災害の認識を広げることになり、わずかながらもの助けになればと考えています。また、会期中の来場者は、震災の救援に取り組む複数のNGOからいずれかを選び、寄付することができます。なお、北京での姉妹展の開催も現在準備中で、さらにはニューヨーク、ロンドン、パリといった主要都市での展示も検討しています。

参加写真家（予定）: more images on Flickr

Eric RECHSTEINER, Gianni GIOSUE, 瀬ノ上俊毅, 加藤順子, Robert GILHOOLY, James Whitlow DELANO, Michael CONNOLLY, Max HODGES, Peter BLAKELY, Q. SAKAMAKI, Shiho FUKADA, Atsushi SHIBUYA, 佐藤理, 佐藤浩視, 平間至, Junku NISHIMURA, Clive V. FRANCE, James BARRATT, Ko SASAKI, Ikuru KUWAJIMA, Jake PRICE など　（予定、順不同）

目的：

この地方が地震によって受けた影響を東京に住む私たちの目前で白日のもとに曝すことにあります。町の崩壊の様子から、そこで生き残り生活を再構築しようとする人々の日常まで、幅広いスタイルや主題で表現されることでしょう。

この展示は、商業的でありません。東北の破壊範囲についての認識を広げることになり、わずかながらもの助けになればと考えています。展覧会の来場者は、地震救済に取り組むいくつかの信頼できるNGOのどれかを選んで寄付することができます。また、作品を売ることで東北救済の一助にしたいと考えるカメラマンがいる場合は、ZENがその収益の寄付を手配することが可能です。

We are creating an exhibition of work by photographers who've been covering the impact of the quake and tsunami in the Tohoku region.

We aim to produce an exhibition to show how the region has been affected, and the exhibition will include a range of styles and subjects – from scenes of destruction in devastated towns to the daily lives of people trying to survive and rebuild.

It's very short notice, as we will open the exhibition on April 15, and we are also negotiating to hold a sister exhibition in Beijing from 25th April using the same images (Zen Foto would take care of double printing). If successful we will also offer the exhibition for show in major cities – such as New York, London, Paris.

This exhibition is not commercial. It is to spread awareness of the extent of devastation up north and to try to help in a small way. People who come to theexhibition can donate to selected, reputable NGOs working on quake relief. We are also telling photographers that if there is interest in the work individually or as a group, and they would be willing to sell it, Zen can arrange donation of proceeds to Tohoku relief.

PHOTO AUCTION FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS

2011-03-21T22:15:00.002+09:00

This weekend 25-27th March Zen Foto is planning to hold a photograph event and auction in aid of Tohoku relief charities. Similar to the year end Shashin Bonenkai it will be organized as follows:

東日本大震災の被災地・被災者募金のため、3月25日〜27日、ゼンフォトで写真のイベントとオークションを行う予定です。昨年末の写真忘年会と似ていますが、今回は寄付が目的のため、以下の内容で行います。

1. please bring a work ready for display to Zen Foto in Roppongi On Friday 25th or Saturday 26th March and set a price preferably in the range Y5,000~Y50,000 the works should be affordable　(you can also send works in by post to Zen Foto Roppongi at the address below)
作品はそのまますぐに展示できる状態（ゼンフォトで額装はいたしません）で、3月25日（金）または3月26日（土）にゼンフォト六本木にご持参またはご郵送ください。作品の受付時間は項目3をご参照ください。作品の値段は5,000円〜50,000円の間でお願いします。

2. all sales proceeds will go to Tohoku relief charities we will choose three charities and split the proceeds evenly between them　売り上げは全額東日本大震災の被災地・被災者へ寄付いたします。売上金は三分割し、それぞれ別のチャリティー組織に寄付します。なお、チャリティー組織は現在選考中です。

3. works will be accepted and displayed any time from 17:00 on Friday 25th March (until 9pm) and from 12 noon on Saturday 26th March　作品の受付時間は、3月25（金）は17:00〜21:00、3月26日（土）は12:00〜19:00です。

4. the event will close at 5pm on Wednesday 30th March　このイベントの展示は3月29日（水）の17:00までです。

5. artists can set the suggested price for each work during the event　作品の値段は5,000円〜50,000円の間でご自身で設定してください。

6. unsold works will be auctioned from 4pm~5pm on 27th March, prices starting at Y1,000, so all works will be sold. No works will be returned this time.　買い手のつかなかった作品は3月27日（日）の16:00〜17:00に最低価格1,000円でオークションをします。全ての作品を売り切ります。

I`m hoping that everyone will bring and everyone will buy. Then the amount we can contribute will be of significant assistance to those suffering in Tohoku.

作品を提供くださる皆さんがそれぞれ別の作家の作品を購入いただければ幸いです。より多くの金額を被災地・被災者に寄付するため、皆様のご協力をお願いいたします。

It would help us to know approximately how many will participate. If possible, please let us know whether you can join us by Wednesday 22nd March.

臨時休廊のお知らせ

2011-03-16T11:06:00.000+09:00

禪フォトギャラリーはただいま休廊中です。
再開の際はまたお知らせいたします。

Due to the earthquake, we are closed at the moment. We will inform everyone again when the gallery is ready to open again. Thank you.

移転のお知らせ

2011-01-13T14:28:00.002+09:00

禅･フォトギャラリーは 2011 / 02 / 15 より、六本木に移転することになります！

ギャラリーの新住所：

106-0032　東京都港区六本木6-6-9　ピラミデビル208-2F 　
詳しくはこちらからご覧下さい : info　map

今年もどうぞ宜しくお願い致します
皆様のお越しをお待ちしております。

大きな地図で見る

中藤毅彦 Takehiko Nakafuji " Night Crawler 1995 / 2010 "

2011-01-13T14:12:00.000+09:00

2 0 1 1 年 0 1 月 0 7 日 ( f r i ) - 0 1 月 3 0 日 ( s u n )

1/13, 1/16,1/23,1/29,1/30　作家さん在廊しております。

写真集「Night Crawler」同時出版

販売価格：￥3,500-（税込み）
禪・フォトギャラリー刊（2011年）
1,000部限定
２冊、ケース付き、48頁
掲載作品69点、B５サイズ　　

ご注文：amanda@zen-foto.jp まで

Click here to see more works from " Night Crawler 1995 / 2010 "

Prints information/

Night Crawler 2010:

Edition of 10

inkjet print

paper size: A2 (594mmx420mm)

Night Crawler 1995:

Edition of 10

Gelatin Silver Print on Baryta Paper by the artist.

paper size: Zenshi (457mmx560mm)

*All the images in the books are available for order.

*contact: mark@zen-foto.jp

韓超 (ハン・チャオ）「私の惨めな小宇宙への狂詩曲」展

2010-11-12T18:40:00.000+09:00

Han Chao “Rhapsody for my Wretched Little Universe”

2 0 1 0 年 1 1 月 0 5 日 ( f r i ) - 1 1 月 2 1 日 ( s u n )

展覧会とともにカタログを出版致します＊for more info＊

Dm＊view more images

「私の惨めな小宇宙への狂詩曲」について　

文／マーク・ピアソン

text/Mark Pearson (zen foto director)

「ハン・チャオの写真はテーマの特異性を超えて、見る者の心にまっすぐに飛び込み、強く揺さぶる普遍的な力を備えている。」

------ 飯沢耕太郎（写真評論家）

しきたりを破って生きるのは、とりわけ性的性向者が虐げられる地方にあっては勇気がいる。自分自身の生き方を写真にすることは勇気がいる。そしてその写真を公開するのは勇気がいる。しかし、韓超（ハン・チャオ）はこれら全てを敢行した。

彼の勇気の源はどこにあるのだろう？若気のいたりか、生きる喜びを共有したいがためか、自己愛からか、結果に無頓着なためか。どのような理由にしても、彼が私たちに、私たち自身の日常生活のドラマについて考える機会を与えてくれたことに感謝しよう。

韓超（ハン・チャオ）は、感性のおもむくまま、彼の人間関係や中国の本質を反映させる色彩豊かな写真を撮る。強い色彩は建築物や壁紙、そして風にはためくベッドカバーに乗せられる。

彼はこの作品を“私の惨めな小宇宙へのラプソディ（狂詩曲）”と控えめに言う。でも、本当に惨めか？韓超の写真を見詰めながら自分自身の人生と向かい合う。果たして自分の人生が惨めか、それとも輝かしいかは、見る人それぞれが決めればよい。

" Han Chao has gone beyond the singularity of this theme, to appeal directly to the hearts of the viewer, who is in turn strongly moved by the artist`s unwavering power. "

--- Kotaro Iizawa (Photography Critic)

It takes courage to live a life that breaks convention, especially in a country that has persecuted　those of unconventional sexual orientation.　It takes courage to take photographs of the most intimate aspects of one`s life. It takes courage to exhibit those photographs. Han Chao has done all three.

Where has this courage come from? From youthful exhuberance, from a desire to share his joie de vivre, from narcissism, from disregard for the consequences. Whatever the reason we are grateful, because he prompts us also to think about the soap operas of our own lives.

Han Chao embraces colour in his photographs, reflecting his own senses, his relationships and reflecting the nature of China itself. Strong colours appear on buildings, on wallpaper and on the bedspreads hung out to air.　　　　　　　　　　

Disarmingly he refers to this work as “Rhapsody for my Wretched Little Universe”. Is it wretched? In contemplating Han Chao`s photographs we reflect on our own lives. Let us each decide whether the drama of our own life is to be wretched or glorious.

「韓超的作品已超越了作品題材本身的獨特性，直接且強而有力地直擊觀看者的心頭。」

----- 飯澤耕太郎（知名日本攝影評論家）

我們需要一點勇氣去過著不同於慣例的生活，特別是在某些打壓非常規性傾向的地方。也需要一點勇氣去拍攝這些屬於相當親密的某某私生活。更需要一點勇氣去公開，分享這些相片記錄。

韓超，他徹底地實現以上三種勇氣。　

他的勇氣從何而來？來自於他充沛的青春泉源，來自他渴望和大家分享一點他的生活之樂（譯自法文 joie de vivre），來自於他的些許自戀，來自於他所謂初生之犢不畏虎的精神。不論我們能想到的哪些原因，韓超，他提示我們，其實我們每個人的生活不也都像是一齣齣肥皂劇嗎。

韓超的攝影作品裡包含了大量繽紛的豐富色彩，反映了他個人的特質，反映了他與人之間的關係，也反映了當代中國本質。於建築物上、壁紙上、床罩上的種種強烈鮮豔的色彩，隨風振顫在空氣中。

他將這一系列的作品命名為「我糟糕的小宇宙叙述曲」。然而，是真的如此糟糕嗎？
注視著韓超的每一張作品，不正是反映了我們每個人的生活嗎。就讓我們各自決定生活中的種種戲劇究竟是糟糕或是光輝呢。

「祭　り　MATSURI」展

2010-10-22T14:21:00.000+09:00

展示期間：　2010/10/22 - 10/31　　　　　　　　　

出展作家Artist：

下平竜矢 Tatsuya Shimohira　池内功和 Kowa Ikeuchi　

井上青龍 Seiryu Inoue　　　　須田一政 Iseei Suda

*作家の下平竜矢さんは毎日在廊予定

Opening Party: 2010/10/22 (fri) 18:00~ 20:00

Zen Foto Books Vol.1 - Vol. 10

2010-09-25T14:55:00.000+09:00

Zen Foto Gallery Publication Vol. 1 ~ Vol. 10 / 2009-09 ~ 2010-10

ご購入方法Order here:

amanda@zen-foto.jp　まで　(JP/ENG/CH)

(1)カタログタイトル (The title of catalogue)
(2)部数 (Amounts)
(3)連絡先（住所　Address／電話　Phone no.）

ご記入してお願い致します。

Vol. 1
劉錚「驚夢」
Liu Zheng "Dream Shock"

Vol. 2
木格「回家」
Muge "Go Home"

Vol. 3
劉珂「平湖」
Liu Ke "Still Lake"

Vol. 4
王寧德「某一天」
Wang Ningde "Some Days"

Vol.6
Pawel Jaszczuk「Kinky City」

Vol. 7
北井一夫「1973中国」
Kazuo Kitai "Kazuo Kitai in China, 1973"

Vol. 8
Zen Foto gallery publication vol.8
伊藤大輔「Losolmo Gym」 Ito Daisuke

Vol. 9
「寫真に歸れ」
&
Special Republication
(1) ミニ光画 Mini Koga
(2) 花電車ポストカード Hanadensha postcard set

Vol. 10
張玉明チャン・ユミン「古塔」
Zhang Yuming "The Ancient Towers"

張玉明　チャン・ユミン　「古塔」展

2010-09-25T14:06:00.000+09:00

Zhang Yuming 　"The Ancient Towers"　 Exhibition DM

2010年09月24日（金） - 10月17日（水）　

Opening Party: 2010年10月02日 (土)　15:00 ~ 18:00

(作家さんが在廊しております)

15:00 - 16:00 中国写真評論家蔡萌（サイ・モン）氏によるトークショーも開催されます

張玉明「古塔」について

文／マーク・ピアソン

Text/ Mark Pearson (Director of Zen Foto Gallery)

張玉明（チャン・ユミン）に初めて会った日に、古代の石塔を写した彼の写真の展覧会を開催しようと決めた。

彼の写真と石塔イメージの保護に対する少年のような熱意に魅かれただけでなく、神秘的な石塔そのものにも興味を持った。石塔は美しく、陰鬱で、悲しげで喜ばしい。チャン・ユミンは中国各地の幾千もの仏教石塔を撮影している。いずれの写真も彼の人生の旅の一歩を示している。チャン・ユミンは石塔の写真を撮る前にその塔の前で頭を垂れ敬虔に祈りを捧げる。全ての石塔の記録を残すのは生涯にわたる巡礼のようなものだろうか。

夢の実現に忠実な彼に感銘を受ける。情熱的な人だ。あるとき中国の郵便事情のトラブルにより私達の間に不幸な誤解が生じた。私は中国語を話せず、チャン・ユミンは英語を話せないので、彼は自分の15歳の英語を話せる娘に誤解を解くために私と話しをするよう求めた。彼女は夢を追うために安徽省を離れ北京に行った敬愛する父親がいなくて寂しいはずだが、彼がその道を歩まなければいけないことを理解している。

石塔は何千年にもわたり屹立していて、その佇まいは時間を超越している。いずれの石塔も幾万もの巡礼者が目の前で祈りに頭を垂れるのを見てきた。しかし石塔にも命がある。石塔も老い、朽ちる。雨風に蝕まれ、時として貪欲な人間によって傷つけられる。石塔は私達の最古の友人なのだ。チャン・ユミンのおかげで石塔は記憶され、称賛され、尊敬されるだろう。

On the day I first met Zhang Yuming I decided to hold an exhibition of his photographs of ancient stone towers.

I was taken with his boyish enthusiasm for photography and for preserving an image of these towers but most of all with the mysterious towers themselves. They are beautiful, austere, sad and joyful. Zhang Yuming has identified thousands of Buddhist stone towers throughout China. Each photograph of each tower represents one step on his life`s journey. Before taking each photograph Zhang Yuming humbly prays in front of the tower. To document and record them all will be a lifetime pilgrimage.

I admire his faithfulness to his dream. He is passionate. At one stage we had an unfortunate misunderstanding caused by the vagaries of the Chinese postal system. As I speak no Chinese and Zhang Yuming speaks no English he asked his 15-year old daughter to speak with me to clear up the misunderstanding. She must miss her dear father who has left her in Anhui province to follow his dream in Beijing, but through love for her father she understands that he must follow this path.

Stone towers stand for millennia. They seem ageless. Each has seen many tens of thousands of pilgrims appear in front of them and bow their heads in prayer. Yet they too have their life cycle. They age and decay. They are eroded by the wind and the rain and sometimes damaged by greedy humans. They are some of our oldest friends. Thanks to Zhang Yuming they will be remembered, admired and respected.

初次認識張玉明時，我便決定要企劃一個關於他所拍攝的古老石塔的攝影展。

他對攝影充沛的熱情及為保護古塔而從事的攝影記錄工作，讓我留下深刻的印象。
當然，除此之外，我也深深地為充滿神祕色彩的古老石塔而著迷。
古塔優美而樸澀，憂愁中而有一絲欣喜。
張玉明至今已前後拍攝中國各地約莫幾千座的佛教古塔。每張作品都代表著他人生旅程的一小步。每次拍攝之前，他總是會在石塔前，虔誠地磕頭膜拜。記錄古塔的旅程，將會是他一場對生命的巡禮。

我很欽佩他對追尋自己夢想的忠實。他是個相當熱情的人。有一次因為中國郵政作業上的疏失而曾讓我們之間曾有過不幸的誤會，礙於我不會中文，而他也不會英文，為了要釐清這中間的誤會，他只好請他十五歲的女兒用簡單的英文向我解釋。父親的遠行縱然讓她感到寂寞，但她對於為了尋夢而毅然決然離開安徽省上京的敬愛的父親，她心裡明白，這是父親該去的道路，他必須這樣去尋夢。

這些石塔屹立千年。它們是永恆的。它們看遍過往上萬的巡禮者，千里迢迢來到它們的面前，彎身低頭，虔誠地奉獻祈禱。然而，它們各自也擁有生命。石塔會老，會腐朽，會受風雨侵蝕，時而受到貪欲的我們所破壞。石塔，是我們最古老忠誠的朋友。感謝張玉明，為這些石塔留下記憶，讓它們受到更多的尊禮和崇拜。

Ito Daisuke/ Losolmo Gym Exhibition

2010-08-05T13:14:00.005+09:00

2010年08月18日 - 09月01日　

伊藤大輔 Daisuke Ito 個展「L O S O L M O 　G Y M」

Opening Reception: 2010/08/18 19:00~21:00

Party: 2010/8/27 (sat.) 19:00~ Free Entrance.

Ito Daisuke: Photographs of Losolmo Boxing Gym, Cuba.

( Collaboration with Aromamora )

私は子供の頃の伊藤大輔が知りたい。彼は愉快で、エネルギッシュで、打算がなく、喜びに満ち溢れている。クセのある性格の持ち主であり、それは我々が日本人に対して抱く以前のイメージとは程遠くかけ離れている。私が片言の日本語を話し、スペイン語を理解できないということを彼も最初から知っている。しかし意思疎通をはかろうとする際、理性を失うほどに彼の親切心があまりに強過ぎる為か、日本語ではなくスペイン語で話しかけてくる。そして彼は少し落ち着き、我々は日本語で話し始める。

伊藤大輔は子供の頃からこんな感じだったのか？中南米で7年も育った年月が彼のこんな人格を形成したのか？それとも、彼は成長段階で中南米で生きる必要性を感じ、そこで生きる必要があったのか？

彼はリオ・デ・ジャネイロのファヴェーラ（スラム街）に4年も住み、メキシコでは娼婦の写真を撮り、キューバではLosolmo gymの写真を撮った。

Losolmo gymはSantiagoというキューバ第二の都市にある。少年たちは裸足で練習し、ぼろきれ同然の服を着ている。設備は粗末で、リングフロアーはちぐはぐに繋ぎとめられており、ロープは擦り切れている。しかし辛うじてやれるだけの設備はあり、4人の世界チャンピオンを輩出している。

写真は格別にロマンティックであり美しい。貧困にあえぐキューバの少年たちの一人一人が、チャンピオンになるという夢を持っている。富や名誉のためでもない。ボクサーになること自体が、彼らにとっては最も崇高で勇ましい野望なのである。

I`d like to know what Daisuke Ito was like as a child. He is a delightful person, exhuberant, uncalculating, full of joie de vivre. He has an overwhelming personality that is far removed from our prior expectations of Japanese. Even though I speak passable Japanese, his kindness in trying to communicate overwhelms his common sense as he chatters away to me in Spanish, a language I do not understand. Then he calms down a little and we begin to communicate in Japanese.

Was he like this as a child or was it living for 7 years in South and Central America that shaped him? Or did the young man need to live there to develop in the way he felt he needed to?

Daisuke has lived for 4 years in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, in Mexico where he photographed streetwalkers and in Cuba where he took these pictures of Losolmo gym.
Losolmo gym is in Cuba`s second city of Santiago. The boys here train barefoot, dressed in little more than rags. The equipment is decrepit. The boxing ring floor is unevenly patched together, the ropes are frayed and there is barely enough equipment to go round and it has produced four world champions.

The images are overwhelmingly romantic and beautiful. Each of these impoverished Cuban boys carries the dream of becoming a champion. I think it is not for the money, not even for the fame, but for these boys to be a boxer is the noble and heroic pinnacle of human aspiration.

可能的話，我希望能認識到小時候的伊藤大輔。他總是充滿快樂和活力，毫無心機，開心直接顯於表面的一個人。甚至他有一種不同於常人的個性，打破我們一般對日本人想像中的印象。雖然我的日文能力還大致上過得去，可是有時候當伊藤非常熱切地想竭盡所能表達他心中想法時，常會不由自主地突然用我完全聽不懂的西班牙語對我解釋。之後，總得當他稍稍平靜下來後，我們的對話才得以用日文再繼續。

我想知道的是，當他還是個孩子的時候就像現在這個樣子了嗎?或是，在中南美過去的那七年改變了他? 又或者，他為了適應當地而感到必須成為現在的模樣呢? 伊藤曾居住在里約熱內盧的貧民區(Favelas of Rio de Janeiro)長達四年，在墨西哥的時期他拍攝了一組娼婦的作品，而後在古巴停留的期間，便是他拍攝「Losolmo Gym」作品的時候。

Losolmo Gym位在古巴第二大城市聖地牙哥市裡。在那受訓的男孩們都裸赤雙腳，頂多衣著少量的破布。那裡設備破舊，拳擊台參差不齊地併在一起，磨損不堪的繩子和不足的設施，很難讓人想像出這地方曾誕生四屆的拳擊冠軍。

伊藤所拍攝的這組照片出乎意料外地美麗且浪漫。畫面中每位貧困的小小拳擊手們，懷抱著希望，夢想有朝一日也能成為世界拳擊王。我猜想，他們並不是純粹為了獎金，更不是為了成名，而是他們以身為拳擊手感到無以倫比的榮耀和作為最崇高的理想。

Me gustaría saber como fue Daisuke en la infancia.En la actualidad es una persona encantadora, exuberante, No calculadora en fin llena de una vital alegria.El tiene una personalidad dominante que esta lejos de la expectación de un Japonés común. Aun que yo puedo hablar un Japonés no reprobable, en su amabilidad Daisuke cuando trata de comunicarse conmigo, su sentido común lo abruma y me habla en castellano, lenguaje que para mi es desconocido.Después se calma y comienza a dialogar en Japonés.

Me pregunto yo si el fue así desde niño o fue por haber vivido 7 años en Centro y Sudamérica que lo ha moldeado así.O tan solo fue que siendo Joven necesitaba vivir ahí para desarrollarse y encontrarse ala vez.

Daisuke ha vivido 4 años en las favelas de Rio de janeiro, en Mexico donde ha fotografiado la prostitución en las calles y en Cuba donde tomo estas fotografias del gimnasio Losolmo.
El gimnasio de Losolmo esta en la segunda ciudad mas grande de cuba, Santiago.Los chicos que entrenan aquí, lo hacen descalzos vestidos en algo mas que harapos. El equipo es decrépito. La lona del ring esta llena de parches, las cuerdas están deshilachadas y solo hay el equipo suficiente para medio pasarla, aun así este gimnasio ha dado cuatro campeones mundiales.

las imágenes son abrumadamente románticas y bellas.Cada uno de estos empobrecidos chicos cubanos lleva consigo el sueño de volverse algún día campeón.Yo creo que no lo hacen por el dinero, ni aun por fama, ya que para ellos el ser un boxeador no es mas que una noble y heroica cima, es decir la cima de la aspiración humana.

Mao Ishikawa Exhibition

2010-07-23T12:56:00.002+09:00

石川真生 Mao Ishikawa 写真展

『Life in Philly』と『熱き日々 in キャンプハンセン』

Opening reception: 2010 年 07 月 23 日 (Fri) 19:00 - 21:00 DM downlaod

TALK SHOW＋サイン会: 07 月 23 日 (Fri) 19:00 ~ (入場料1000円)

この度TOKIO OUT of PLACEとZEN FOTO GALLERYでは石川真生写真展を同時開催いたします。

沖縄にこだわり沖縄を撮り続ける写真家石川真生。 TOKIO OUT of PLACEでは、彼女のプライベートな側面にスポットを当てたシリーズ『セルフポートレイト -携帯日記- 』と、沖縄と日本の関係を問いつづけるシリーズ『日の丸を視る目』を展示いたします。

2000 年腎臓癌、2001年大腸癌を患った石川は２度の手術を乗り越えた後、自分の肉体を直視しセルフポートレイトを撮り始めました。人工肛門を曝け出しレンズに向かって笑う彼女には、壮絶な写真家魂が宿っています。近作の多くは携帯のカメラで自身の肉体や家族を真正面から斬新な構図で捉えています。

シリーズ『日の丸を視る目』では、逆に被写体を自身からモデルに移し、モデルたちに日の丸の国旗をもたせ『貴方にとって国家日本とは？』という問いを突きつけ表現してもらい、その場面を撮影しています。１９９３年から始まったこのシリーズは今や被写体となるモデルが１４０名を越え、現在も進行中のプロジェクトです。今回はその中から最近作約１５点を展示します。

またZEN FOTO GALLERYでは、『Life in Philly』と『熱き日々 in キャンプハンセン』の２シリーズを展示いたします。石川真生は1986年夏、米兵として沖縄に駐留していた友人の住むフィラデルフィアを訪ね、約２ヶ月半滞在しています。現地で出会う黒人たちを迫力ある構図で撮影したシリーズ＜Life in Philly>。20年を経た今なお、黒人たちの高笑いと熱いシャッター音が見るものを圧倒します。展示されるのは約６０枚のヴィンテージプリントになります。

また１９８２年に石川がはじめて出版した写真集『熱き日々 in キャンプハンセン』から、当時の貴重なプリントも展示します。時と場所を隔てた４つのシリーズが、彼女の実像を鮮明に浮かび上がらせるでしょう。是非ご高覧下さい。

We are pleased to announce a new exhibition of Mao Ishikawa`s photography.

Zen Foto will show “Life in Philly” and vintage prints of her early work “Hot Days in Camp Hansen”. We are coordinating this exhibition with another exhibition of Mao Ishikawa`s work which takes place simultaneously in Tokio Out of Place in Hiroo. TOoP will show Mao Ishikawa`s more recent Mobile Phone Self-Portraits and “Hinomaru” “Rising Sun Flag in your eyes”. Admission to both exhibitions is free.

We are holding two opening events.The first will take place at Zen Foto at 7pm on 23rd July featuring a talk and discussion between Mao Ishikawa and noted author and biographer Mr Ryuta Imafuku. For this event on 23rd there will be a charge of Y1000, but this charge is refunded by way of a reduction of Y1000 in the price of Mao Ishikawa`s “Life in Philly” photobook which is available for signing. The second event takes place on Saturday 24th July at Tokio Out of Place with Mao Ishikawa talking about her life and works from 5pm. There is no charge for this event where books are also available for signing by Mao Ishikawa.

Mao Ishikawa`s life in Okinawa was the subject of her first, privately published photo book “Hot Days in Camp Hansen”. The exhibition at Zen Foto is an extremely rare opportunity to see these vintage photographs. A visit to friends in Philadelphia in resulted in the Mao Ishikawa`s “Life in Philly”. Ishikawa had unlimited access to the uninhibited lives of her friends and extended families in downtown Philadelphia. The result is a vibrant portrait of life in urban Philadelphia ghettoes of the 1980s.

The book of these photographs was published jointly by Zen Foto and Tokio Out of Place in 2010. We are pleased to note that Mao Ishikawa will also be making solo exhibitions in Europe later this year. These joint exhibitions in Tokyo are an opportunity to see a broad range of Mao Ishikawa`s work before she travels to London.

開廊時間Open hours:
Wed（水）- Fri（金）12:00 - 19:00 | Sat（土）Sun（日） 12:00 - 17:00
(closed on Mon, Tue &　National Holidays 月火祝休廊) 　
〒150-0002 Shibuya Ibis Bldg. B1 2-17-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

渡辺晃一個展　「テクストとイマージュの肌膚」

2010-04-24T14:07:00.005+09:00

Watanabe Koichi "The Skin of Text and Image"

会期: 2010. 04.28 (Wed) ~ 05.08 (Sat)　休廊なし
Open Everyday During the Exhibition Period from 12:00 ~ 19:00
Opening Party: 2010. 05. 01 (Sat), 17:00~

今日で晃一先生と一緒に展示の準備を完了しました ^O^ /

＊会期期間は休廊なし、晃一先生が毎日在廊しております。

みんな様のご来場お待ちしております：）

（2010/04/27）

Zen Foto x TOKYO ART FAIR

2010-03-28T00:31:00.003+09:00

王寧德 Wang NingDe 某一天"Some　days" (日.中.ENG)

2010-03-10T21:08:00.013+09:00

2010- 3-31 ~ 4-25 @ zen foto gallery

Artist: 王寧德 Wang NingDe（ワン・ニンデ）

opening reception: 2010_3_31

Artist will also participate in the opening party.

当日は王寧德（Wang NingDe）さんが在廊しております。

Click Here to view/ download EDM

下載 Download

王寧德の「SOME　DAYS」について
About Wang Ningde's SOME DAYS

文／Mark Pearson_director of zen foto gallery

Wang Ningdeは驚くべきことを達成しました。シリーズ"Some Days” で編み出した作品はいずれも彼のものとすぐにわかります。この作品の持つ雰囲気は郷愁や記憶や夢を包み込んでいます。

眠るために眼を閉じるとき、私達は何を感じているのでしょうか。まったくの無意識か、それとも夢を見ている時の奇妙な感覚でしょうか。夢は経験の本質的要素による無意識の精神で組み立てられています。

Wang Ningdeの写真の本質的要素のひとつに、閉じた眼もしくは開いた虚ろな眼があります。ほかの要素としては人民服が挙げられるでしょう。この洋服は孫文の意匠によるもので、中国の優雅な伝統服や西洋のドレスのスタイルを拒否しています。この屈折した非審美的な洋服が中国共産党の象徴となったことはばかげた結末です。この洋服の奇妙な飾り気のなさは、それを受け入れた中国共産主義の単純さと釣り合っています。

シリーズ "Some Days” の作品において、全ての被写体が人民服を着ているわけではなく、また全ての眼が閉じているわけでもありませんが、全ての作品が夢の要素を含んでいます。Wang Nindgdeは20世紀の中国から本来の純粋な要素を引き出しています。

Wang Ningde has achieved something remarkable. In “Some Days” he has created a series of photographs with a mood that is instantly recognisable as his. This mood incorporates nostalgia, memory and dreams.

What are we aware of when we close our eyes to sleep? Either nothing at all or that strange awareness when we dream. The dream is assembled by our unconscious minds from essential elements of our experiences.

One of the essential elements in Wang Ningde`s photographs is the closed eyes, or at least the absence of open eyes. Another element is the Mao suit. Sun Yat-Sen designed the jacket, rejecting the elegance of traditional Chinese clothing and the style of Western dress. The absurd result is that this perversely unaesthetic garment became the emblem of communist China, it`s strange simplicity matching the strange simplicity of the society that adopted it.

In the photographs of the series “Some Days” not all the subjects wear Mao suits, not all show eyes that are closed, but all contain essential parts of the dream. Wang Ningde has distilled 20th Century China into its pure elements.

王寧德完成了一些值得令人注意的事情。在「某一天」的作品中我們可以看見他所編織出的那些情緒，已經讓人迅速地能掌握到，那是屬於王寧德的。而那是一種充滿鄉愁、記憶和夢的情緒。
當我們閉上眼睛進入睡眠時，是否察覺到了些什麼呢？是全然無意識，抑或展開一種如夢境般奇妙的感覺。夢，是由現實經驗做為本質而延伸出的潛意識所集聚而成。
王寧德作品裡其中一個重要的元素在於閉闔的眼睛，或者是說，睜眼動作的缺席。另個元素則為毛裝（中山裝）。這件由孫中山先生所設計的衣著，透露著對中國傳統優雅服飾以及西洋服飾的某種否決。然而，諷刺的是，這套實用乏美觀的衣著而後輾轉成為了中國共產黨的象徵標誌。它所有的奇特單純特色正好搭上中國共產的簡陋單純。
在「某一天」系列作品裡，並非所有的攝影主體都穿著中山裝，也並非所有人的眼睛都是閉闔著的，但均帶有「夢」的元素在其中。二十世紀中國的純粹，在王寧德的影像裡，已經完整地被淨化其中。

3rd ガイジンPhotographer Group on 2010.7 March

2010-03-10T15:21:00.005+09:00

Gaijin Photographers` Group Meeting -GPG

The third meeting of GPG was another great evening. Thank you to all who came and contributed.

I have posted some write-ups and web links - just follow the links.

Looking forward to next time - probably in May

Mark

director of Zen Foto Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo

James Whitlow Delano

[website]

A visit to China in December to investigate the impact of pollution. Remarkable images from Heilongjian – coal mining and PVC production and the resulting pollution. There is some sensitivity on China`s part to taking photographs in this region. How far can it go on like this?

Rob Gilhooly

[website]

Rob started out with a review of the World Press Photo awards.

We even had a couple of the prizewinners in the room with us! Many congratulations to Paolo Patrizi who has picked up three prizes for his work within the past siz months.

Rob went on to show photographs from two of his series. Firstly the fascinating and very moving images from the Jukai – deep forest near Mt. Fuji that is known as a suicide destination. Rob has been there 20 times or so, and has gotten himself lost at times, including once being stranded overnight. Next he showed more moving images from Taiji dolphin hunters in Wakayama, again at some considerable personal risk.

Gianni Giosue

[website]

Gianni showed us three sets. First, a day in the life of wheelchair-bound Gholum from Kashmir. Next up was his documentary of a day walking the bridges of Srinagar, again capturing a day which ended up in the middle of a street protest against the police. Finally Gianni showed us his work on the JKSMS organization helping women and children in Jaipur. Very impressive series of work from another of the incredibly well-travelled photographers in our group.

Koga Norio

[website]

Koga-san showed us his photographs from a number of different countries. One of his themes was the strangeness of Chinese girls` relationships. Lots of potential there, I think. Another theme is the similarity of many places around the world with places in Japan. Kanagawa seemed to be very heavily featured. Keep `em coming Norio!

Shinichi Sato

[website]

Shinichi brought his images from a year spent in San Francisco. This was a popular and entertaining set, bringing nostalgic sighs from several members of the audience. He went to SF thinking of having a break from photography, but after a short while could not resist getting his large format camera out, clearly showing how awed Shinichi was during his visit.

Carlos Jurado

[website]

When does Carlos Jurado sleep? He seems to work throughout the night, especially during typhoons, it appears, clambering precariously over jagged rocks and standing waist deep in icy seas and along treacherous coastline. But the results are worth it! Beautiful and haunting photographs. Carlos also has a strange obsession with Tetrapods.

Dan Abbe

[website]

Dan writes a blog on Japanese photography and shoots for his own enjoyment. He showed images from his trip last summer around Hokkaido. Wakkanai got it`s second mention of the evening! Dan`s image of people in front of a fountain maybe the single most popular shot of the evening!

Daisuke Ito

[website]

Daisuke has spent much time in Cuba, Mexico and Rio.

Sorry we could not read his storage device, but the prints from the Favelas of Rio, Cuban Boxing and Mexico were very impressive indeed. Enthusiastically presented in a cocktail of languages which we by and large understood! Well done on nomination for the Sony World Photography Awards for that gritty work on Cuban boxing.

Harukichi

[website]

Harukichi describes himself as an amateur pho"toy"grapher. Well done for self-publishing his book of photographs using a Koller half frame camera. Most unusual camera of the night. Quite impressive image quality for a toy camera.

And th th th th that`s all folks!

Thank you again to all the above!

Next meeting:

Hopefully in a month or two..

Some hate broccoli

some hate bacon

I hate having my picture taken.

(Ogden Nash)

Click here to view more photos of the event
HERE

STILL LAKE by Liu Ke/「平湖」-劉珂

2010-02-11T00:45:00.007+09:00

Still Lake 平湖
Artist: Liu Ke 劉珂

DM Download

下載 Click Here

2010/2/26 (Fri) - 3/24(Wed)

Opening Reception: 2010/2/26 (Fri)

18:00-20:00

劉珂（リュウ　ケ）の作品の題名である“平湖”は、毛澤東の詩に由来する。この詩は史上最大の土木工事の一つである三峡ダムプロジェクトを彷彿とさせる。リュウは、三峡ダム建設の影響を受ける揚子江川沿いの地域と重慶市周辺を、この地域に暮らす人々が払う代価を問いながら写真に収めた。

一見すると、リュウの作品は穏やかで内向的に見える。私達は、中国の一般的な生活から取り残された人々の疎外感や孤独感を、特に“霧の都市”またはその夏の灼熱の暑さから中国の“三大火炉”の一つとも言われる重慶で撮られた作品から感じる。猛暑や極寒、汚染や騒音が広大な建設現場を取り囲む。そんななか、むしろ不意に、写真家は混沌の中から人々の悲哀と美に光を当てる。そして私達は、人々の生きる力と、同胞の仲間によせリュウ　ケの思いやりと愛情に気付く。

The title of Liu Ke`s work “Still Lake” derives from a poem by Mao ZeDong. The poem imagines still waters rising behind what we now interpret as the Three Gorges Dam Project, one of the greatest civil engineering works in history. Liu Ke has photographed the region affected by the dam along the banks of the Yangtse River and around Chongqing, questioning the price paid by the people living in the region.

At first sight Liu Ke`s work is calm and undemonstrative. We feel the alienation of people in everyday life in China, and specifically in the “Fog City” of Chongqing, also known as one of the “three Furnaces” of China for its intense summers. Extremes of heat and cold, dirt and noise oppress everyday life around the vast building sites. Then, rather surprisingly, the photographer picks out an absurdity and some beauty amid the chaos. We now see the people`s resilience and Liu Ke`s sympathy and love for his fellow countrymen.

劉珂的作品”平湖”一詞本來自毛澤東的”游泳”這首詩。在詩中，毛所描繪的平湖正是史上浩大工程之一的長江三峽大壩工程竣工後的預景。劉珂走過長江沿岸各地且拍下變化中的那些人，事與物，其中也包括重慶近鄰的地區。他用他的鏡頭質問，居住在這些地區的人們究竟花費多少的代價才總算換來一個”平湖”。

初視劉珂的作品，是沉穩且含蓄的。我們感受到些許被遺留下的孤獨疏遠感，尤其是在有”霧都”和”中國三大火爐城市”之稱的重慶，極端的酷熱和寒冷，骯髒和噪音共存在每個廣闊的水泥建築周圍，壓迫著每天的生活。然而，出乎我意料的是，攝影師反而選擇巧妙地捕捉混沌中的怪誕美感。在他的作品裡，我們看到了人們適應生活的堅強韌性以及他鏡頭下對他所愛的同胞們的關懷。

2nd GaiJin Photographers' Group

2010-01-20T12:53:00.003+09:00

Our second Gaijin Photographers` Group (2010_1_17) meeting was an enjoyable and fascinating evening. Thanks go both to those who showed and talked about their work, and to the participants. It was a good mix, photographers – professional and amateur, journalists and editors. Hopefully some good new connections were made as well as a chance to meet old friends. We had several rounds of good, constructive, thought-provoking discussions.

We aim to hold the next meeting in March.

To get us under way we saw some work from

Rin Yo

B/W street scenes of Tokyo from a Chinese perspective. Rin Yo is an amateur photographer and fan of Muge`s work who happened to visit the gallery during Muge`s exhibition.

Peter Cook 

Peter talked about his remarkable work on the architecture of major cities – Beijing, Paris, Berlin, London, Shanghai, Tokyo – and how his treatment varies at the hands of local police and security guards when he sets up his large format camera in and around trophy buildings. Beautiful images and extremely impressive work. Must see the real prints!

Alex Treves

Alex brought a selection mainly of black and white portraits from his travels around South-East Asia and gave a memorable and well thought out commentary on his own work. To be able to do such careful analysis of one`s own work is a rare gift.

http://www.pbase.com/alexander_treves

Andy Palaski

Sorry that we could not read Andy`s CD but through his website we discussed his work on the work of Masako and Shigeru Ban and the Sumida River bridges. Andy talked about his concepts of photography and use of the 5x4 format camera. Thank you Andy and we hope to see your macro work on the next occasion.

www.andypalaski.com

Takashi Arai

Takashi introduced his daguerrotypes to us. Takashi is one of only two people doing this in Japan. First time for most of us, I suspect, to see the unique images produced by this method used at the birth of photography.

http://www.takashiarai.com/

Paulette Waltz

Paulette showed her production about Tibetans living in exile in India. A moving slide show. To get the most out of it I recommend viewing it with better sound here:

http://www.paulettewaltz.com/works/tibetans/

She also showed her engaging project “A Hundred Smiles”.

http://ahundredsmiles.com/

Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Jeremy brought prints from his work on Rumania, Whaling, Twin Towers, Japanese CEO tea-times. It was good to see the printed work. Just scraping the surface of this man`s oeuvre. Looking forward to seeing more in future.

http://www.jeremysuttonhibbert.com/features.asp?fldfeatures=29

Paolo Patrizi

Paolo showed his award-winning work on Starlings in Rome and stark images of migrant prostitution. Thought-provoking stuff from another young veteran.

http://www.paolopatrizi.com/flash.php

We aim to hold the next meeting in March.

Muge featured in the New York Times website

2010-01-14T09:30:00.007+09:00

Nice to see Muge featured in the New York Times website with a number of the images that can be seen at Zen Foto:
Click here to view the article!

Muge`s work is on display at Zen Foto until Sunday 17th January. We are still holding 2009 prices for Muge`s work until then.
An exceptional opportunity to buy some great works!

IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY? これ写真？2010/1/22 (Fri) - 2010/2/17 (Wed)

2010-01-09T13:37:00.007+09:00

IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY?
「これ写真？」
「這是攝影？」（中文部分在最下方）

Download DM- 下載 click / To View full DM-Click Here

Artists: 資佰（Zi Bo）, 周宏斌（Zhou Hong Bin), 姚璐（Yao Lu）
2010/1/22 (Fri) - 2010/2/17 (Wed)
Opening Reception: 2010/1/22 (Fri), 18:00-20:00

Zen Foto is pleased to announce the group exhibition of Zi Bo, Zhou Hong Bin and Yao Lu.
Perhaps a sign of immaturity, perhaps of enthusiasm, perhaps creativity, commercialism, or freedom from tradition? For several reasons we are seeing much digital manipulation of photographic images in China.
I recently heard on good authority that the great Japanese photographer Yasuhiro Ishimoto stated that photographers who do not print their own prints in the darkroom are “inchiki”, implying they are fake or bogus. Photographers have always manipulated the image when printing in the darkroom. So if manipulation of the image in the darkroom is an essential part of the photographer`s craft, why do some old school photographers turn up their noses at digital manipulation on the PC?
What`s important is not what tools are used by the artist, whether camera, PC, darkroom, but how that artist uses them to affect our senses.
In this exhibition we present three examples of the genre:
Zi Bo breaks from his previous realistic style work to present two takes on famous scenes of Beijing and Shanghai.
Zhou Hong Bin shows black and white rabbits in unfamiliar environment.
Yao Lu presents a landscape that is not what it seems at first glance.

For further information, please contact :

Zen Foto Gallery (English, Chinese, Japanese)
Mark Pearson
Amanda Lo

Open hours:
Wed - Fri 12:00 - 19:00
Sat - Sun 12:00 - 17:00
(close on Mon, Tue & National Holidays)

Web: www.zen-foto.jp
Address: Shibuya Ibis Bldg. B1 2-17-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

-------------------------- Japanese Version ----------------------------

IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY?
「これ写真？」

作家: 資佰(Zi Bo), 周宏斌（Zhou Hong Bin), 姚璐 (Yao Lu）
会期: 2010/1/22 (金) - 2010/2/17 (水)
オープニングパーティー: 2010/1/22 (金), 18:00-20:00

Zen Foto ギャラリーでは、三人展を開催いたします。

未熟さか、クリエイティブなのか、情熱なのか、それとも伝統からの開放？最近の中国では、画像をPCで編集 (フォトショップ) することが盛んになってきています。
日本の偉大な写真家である石元泰博氏がこう言われたそうです。自分の写真を暗室でプリントしない写真家はインチキだ、と。写真家は暗室で作品を好きなように変えます。暗室ではネガからの純粋なイメージをプリントするだけではなく、イメージを自分の好みに合わせて処理できます。デジタル処理をした写真を評価しない写真家もいますが、パソコンで処理をするのと暗室で処理をするとでは何が違うでしょうか。
大切なことは、どの道具 (カメラ、パソコン、暗室、他) を使うかではなく、その道具の使い方によって我々の感性にどう語りかけるかです。

今回の展覧会では、この分野 (フォトショップ) における代表的な三人の作品を紹介します。
資佰(Zi Bo) :　北京と上海の有名な景色を演出します。
周宏斌(Zhou Hong Bin):　白と黒の兎が、まさか！の環境で飛びかいます。
姚璐 (Yao Lu):　みれば見るほど違った光景が浮かんできます。

For further information, please contact :

Zen Foto Gallery (English, Chinese, Japanese)
Mark Pearson
Amanda Lo

Open hours:
水曜 - 金曜，12:00 - 19:00
土曜 & 日曜，12:00 - 17:00 (月・火・祝　休廊)

Web: www.zen-foto.jp
東京都渋谷区渋谷2-17-3 渋谷アイビスビル地下1階

------------ Traditional Chinese Version----------------------

IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY?

「這是攝影？」

藝術家: 資佰（Zi Bo）, 周宏斌（Zhou Hong Bin), 姚璐（Yao Lu）

2010/1/22 (Fri) - 2010/2/17 (Wed)

開幕酒會: 2010/1/22 (Fri), 18:00-20:00

禪攝影藝廊此次將為您介紹由資佰，周宏斌，姚璐三位藝術家的聯合「攝影」展。

「這是攝影？」

略帶點不成熟，又充滿熱情，充滿想像爆發力，或些許商業氣息，些許脫離傳統束縛的自由？近年來，我們漸漸發現在中國有越來越多使用電腦軟體（如：Photoshop）加工影像的風潮。

知名日本攝影師石元泰博曾說過一句話：「身為一個攝影師，倘若不是在暗房完整參與沖洗攝影作品過程的話，那便是種偽造」，暗諷那些影像只是種假象。然而，如果對攝影師而言，在暗房處理膠卷也是整個攝影重要的一部分，重要的一個手段的話，又何必責備有些人使用電腦的方式處理影像呢？那也只不過是一個手段而已，不是嗎？

如果換個角度來想，或許最重要的並不是藝術家使用了什麼手段，什麼工具或是相機來「攝影」，而是藝術家如何呈現他們的「攝影」作品，並且透過影像，進而對我們產生什麼新鮮的觀感刺激吧。

在這次的聯展中，三位藝術家將呈現給您不同的視覺「攝影」新印象：

有別於大家所認知的北京和上海，資佰將以嶄新且獨特的手法呈現這兩大城市著名

的景點。

周宏斌的黑白兔子，和奇幻的環境又將有什麼新奇的互動呢。

姚璐所帶來的中國山水畫將挑戰大家視覺的細膩觀察。

詳情請洽 :

Zen Foto Gallery (English, Chinese, Japanese)

Mark Pearson

Amanda Lo （羅苓寧）

Open hours:

Wed - Fri 12:00 - 19:00

Sat - Sun 12:00 - 17:00

(close on Mon, Tue & National Holidays)

Web: www.zen-foto.jp

Address: Shibuya Ibis Bldg. B1 2-17-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Zen Foto Gallery

Showa 88

"Jizo" Dreams

"Hikikomori" among young people in Japan

"Nekopathy" by Masayuki Nakaya

A Photographic Quiz

Lin Shu

To the Villages

Natural and Unnatural Borders

Some Good Might Come out of this Nuclear Mess

restarting the blog

『2011.03.11 14:46 -Images of Tohoku-』展

PHOTO AUCTION FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS

臨時休廊のお知らせ

移転のお知らせ

中藤毅彦 Takehiko Nakafuji " Night Crawler 1995 / 2010 "

韓超 (ハン・チャオ）「私の惨めな小宇宙への狂詩曲」展

「祭 り MATSURI」展

Zen Foto Books Vol.1 - Vol. 10

張玉明 チャン・ユミン 「古 塔 」展

Zhang Yuming "The Ancient Towers" Exhibition DM

2010年09月24日（金） - 10月17日（水）

張玉明「古塔」について

Ito Daisuke/ Losolmo Gym Exhibition

2010年08月18日 - 09月01日

伊藤大輔 Daisuke Ito 個展「L O S O L M O G Y M」

Opening Reception: 2010/08/18 19:00~21:00

Party: 2010/8/27 (sat.) 19:00~ Free Entrance.

Ito Daisuke: Photographs of Losolmo Boxing Gym, Cuba.

( Collaboration with Aromamora )

Mao Ishikawa Exhibition

渡辺晃一個展 「テクストとイマージュの肌膚」

Zen Foto x TOKYO ART FAIR

王寧德 Wang NingDe 某一天"Some days" (日.中.ENG)

3rd ガイジンPhotographer Group on 2010.7 March

STILL LAKE by Liu Ke/「平湖」-劉珂

2nd GaiJin Photographers' Group

Muge featured in the New York Times website

IS THIS PHOTOGRAPHY? これ写真？2010/1/22 (Fri) - 2010/2/17 (Wed)

『2011.03.11 14:46　-Images of Tohoku-』展

「祭　り　MATSURI」展

張玉明　チャン・ユミン　「古塔」展

Zhang Yuming 　"The Ancient Towers"　 Exhibition DM

2010年09月24日（金） - 10月17日（水）　

2010年08月18日 - 09月01日　

伊藤大輔 Daisuke Ito 個展「L O S O L M O 　G Y M」

渡辺晃一個展　「テクストとイマージュの肌膚」

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