Hiroshi Sugimoto was born in Tokyo, 1948. He was interested in science and history from an early age, but his passion turned to photography while in high school. In recent years Hiroshi has expanded his interest into the third dimension through sculpture and architecture. However, for the majority of his career he has used the same late-19th century camera to create his long exposure black and white photographs. His many series over the decades have explored the role of artificiality in the human impulse to preserve.
Earliest Human Relatives, Dioramas, 1994
Double Wattled Cassowary, Dioramas, 1980
While on a trip to New York in 1974, Hiroshi stumbled upon the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History. Observing the exhibitions filled with stuffed animals and early humans, he remarked “however fake the subject, once photographed, it's as good as real.” His Dioramas bring the dead to life in uncanny prehistoric scenes.
Orinda Theatre, Theaters, 1992
He began work on Theaters in 1978. The works are a breathtaking meta-reflection on cameras as both his artistic medium and a wider cultural phenomenon. For each photograph, he sets up his camera to take a slow exposure throughout the entire length of the film. In doing so, he reveals the tricks of light behind the magic of cinema. The resulting images are haunting snapshots of dark theatres around the world, with blaring white screens at their centre.
Diana, Princess of Wales, Portraits, 1999
Fidel Castro, Portraits, 1999
For his 1999 series, Portraits, Hiroshi photographed lifelike waxworks of historical figures, both living and dead. The waxworks were in turn based on photographs and paintings, like Holbein’s portrait of Henry VIII. As such, the portraits are a memory of a memory of a memory. Hiroshi suggests “if this photograph now appears life-like to you, you should reconsider what it means to be alive here and now.”
Caribbean Sea, Jamaica, 1980
