Yoshihiko Ueda's photo exhibition "Forest: Impressions and Memories 1989-2017" will be held at Gallery 916 from January 19th to March 25th.

The gallery, which will close on April 15th due to the redevelopment of the area around Takeshiba Station, has served as a venue for unprecedented photography experiences and a major art hub in Tokyo since its opening in February 2012. This final solo exhibition will feature approximately 50 works from 1989 to his latest work in 2017, depicting forests that represent the primordial laws of living things, woven by Ueda over the course of 30 years of fully engaging with the cycle of life. "It's been almost 30 years since I started photographing forests," Ueda said. "I've now photographed three forests that seem unrelated geographically, apart from the fact that they are located on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean: the Quinault Forest in the northwestern United States, the forests of Yakushima Island in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago, and the virgin forest of Kasuga Taisha Shrine in Nara, located in the heart of Japan. Roughly speaking, these three forests were discovered by chance, by chance, or by fate. However, these three forests actually share a common thread that I consider important. This is because these forests have been protected by humans since ancient times, and because they possess some important power that makes people feel the need to protect them. Humans have inherited this power since ancient times. I feel this strongly within myself. I've been to many forests, but when I encountered these three, I was overcome with a special feeling, and I felt a strong urge to photograph them. It was a sharp sensation that I can't put into words. I believe it was this feeling that led me to photograph these three forests."

In conjunction with this exhibition, the photo book "FOREST Impressions and Memories 1989-2017" will be published by Seigensha on January 19th, and there will be talk sessions and book signings with Goto Shigeo (editor) from 3:00pm to 4:30pm on January 27th, Ito Shunji (art historian) from 3:00pm to 4:30pm on February 11th, and Iizawa Kotaro (photography critic) from 4:00pm to 5:30pm on March 3rd.