Photographer Chikashi Suzuki's solo exhibition "Fragments of Everyday Tokyo" will be held from March 7th to April 11th at Gallery KOSAKU KANECHIKA, located in the Tennozu art complex in Tokyo.

Nakameguro, Tokyo, 2016
© Chikashi Suzuki, Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA
Since the 1990s, Chikashi Suzuki has been at the forefront of editorial and fashion photography. Having launched his career in France, his wide-ranging work has consistently garnered attention as one of the leading photographers of his time, transcending the boundaries between fashion and art.

Considering his career, Suzuki has not presented many works in exhibitions or photo books, but he has held two exhibitions at KOSAKU KANECHIKA: "Sunny Day, Tokyo" in 2018 and "My Tokyo" in 2019. Centered around a reinterpretation of Tokyo, an important subject for Suzuki, which he has photographed for many years, Suzuki's exhibitions have a multilayered context, including a reconsideration of the medium of photography and references to the history of photography.

In his next solo exhibition, Suzuki's work is not shot in a meticulous setting, but is instead centered around personal, intimate snapshots. Many of these photographs have remained unpublished for a long time since they were taken.

Shinjuku, Tokyo, 2018
© Chikashi Suzuki, Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA

It has been a long time since Suzuki began photographing the landscapes, objects, and everyday changes that humans see, becoming obsessed with replicating reality. However, with the advent of digital technology, photographs have become consumed at a much faster pace, and these images are created and then passed away. In contrast, the photographs Suzuki is exhibiting this time, taken on film, have aged largely unnoticed, and appear before us with a fresh presence.

Public figures, people before they became public figures, the streets of Tokyo, landscapes, and flowers are all equally captured as fragments of Suzuki's daily life. They capture the truth, while also leaving room for the viewer to interpret and weave countless new stories.

Nakano, Tokyo, 2015
© Chikashi Suzuki, Courtesy of KOSAKU KANECHIKA
"All photographs are associated with death," Susan Sontag wrote in "On Photography," and taking a photograph also means delving into the fate, transience, and impermanence of the people and things in question. This is precisely why the sense of sadness and nostalgia that emerges is beautiful, and the element of the passage of time, which is also filled with foreboding, captivates the viewer and stimulates their imagination.

In addition, this solo exhibition will consist of approximately 40 photographs that Suzuki, who has not previously presented many exhibitions or photo books, has personally selected, avoiding the emergence of meaning or artificiality.