Each bookstore will act as a concierge, recommending "the book you should read right now" to FASHION HEADLINE readers. Every Thursday, each branch of the art bookshop "NADiff" will introduce a book they recommend. This time, we'll be introducing NADiff BAITEN, the museum shop located inside the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in Ebisu, Tokyo (2F, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Ebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo).
■ "THEATERS" by Hiroshi Sugimoto
In photography, the term "decisive moment" is often used, and a photograph captures a single moment. It seems as if the moment the shutter is pressed is the only thing frozen in the image from the endless flow of time. But is that really what photography is? Hiroshi Sugimoto's photographs overturn this image. The "THEATERS" series included in this book, known in Japanese as "Theater," was photographed in old movie theaters and drive-in theaters using long exposures, with the shutter kept open for the entire screening of a film. The screen itself becomes the light source, revealing the beautiful, old-fashioned atmosphere of the theater.
A movie theater is a place where films are screened, and audiences typically sit there, gazing at the screen for one to two hours—or even longer for longer films. While sometimes laughing, sometimes sobbing, and sometimes frowning at someone who accidentally sneezes during a serious scene, the screening is a magical time in which viewers are immersed in the world of the screen. How many films have been screened over the years? How many people have spent such long screenings in these spaces?
These photographs do more than simply record the passage of time during which a film is screened. Cinemas are imbued with the atmosphere of the films screened countless times and the audiences who shared those films at each passing moment. The illuminated screens in Sugimoto's works project the history of theaters onto us today. This book includes 21 previously unpublished works from his "THEATERS" series, which has been shot continuously since the 1970s. It also includes his latest "Abandoned Theaters" series, shot in abandoned movie theaters, for a total of 151 photographs. This definitive edition conveys, in a mysterious way, the atmosphere and history of every cinema, quietly ticking away in a single photograph. "Abandoned Theaters" is being shown for the first time in the world as part of the "Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lost Human" exhibition at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, which reopened this month. In a dimly lit exhibition room, the beautiful gelatin silver prints are displayed alongside Sugimoto's own text, revealing the titles and content of the films being screened. I hope you'll pick up this new book along with the exhibition.
The catalogue for the "Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lost Human Exhibition", which includes the titles of the films on display and related writings, is also available for purchase at our store.
[Book Information]
"THEATERS"
Photography: Sugimoto Hiroshi
Publisher: DAMIANI
Hardcover / 176 pages / 285 x 258 mm
Language: English
Published: 2016
Price: 8,800 yen
"Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lost Human" Exhibition Catalogue
Publisher: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Softcover / 247 pages / 230 x 290 mm
Language: Japanese and English
Published: 2016
Price: 2,315 yen
[Exhibition Information]
"Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lost Human" Exhibition, Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Museum's Reopening
Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2nd and 3rd Floor Exhibition Rooms
Address: Ebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Period: September 3rd to November 13th
Time: 10:00-18:00
*Until 20:00 on Thursdays and Fridays (except September 9th and 10th until 21:00)
*Last admission 30 minutes before closing
Admission: 1,000 yen for adults, 800 yen for students, 700 yen for junior high and high school students and those 65 and over
Closed: Mondays (except September 19th and October 10th, closed September 20th and October 11th)
