Yasuhiro Ishimoto "Tokyo"   June 10 (Tue.) – July 4 (Fri.), 2008

Yasuhiro Ishimoto, a representative photographer of Japan, is internationally known as well. He has been producing enormous numbers of work over a half century and his works are shown in photograph books also at exhibitions. The book of Mr. Ishimoto's recent series of work titled "Shibuya, Shibuya", photographs of young people's back waiting for the light to change at the scramble crossing in front of Shibuya station in Tokyo, was published last year. It is still fresh in our mind that these photographs captured by Ishimoto with his keen sense of design were exhibited at Photo Gallery International.

"Tokyo" is a place where Mr. Ishimoto is spending his life of photography over a half century. Came to Tokyo in 1953 from Chicago where he spent his school days, he began walking about the town of Tokyo to photograph as he did in his hometown Chicago. He returned to Tokyo in 1961 after three years of stay in Chicago, and resumed photographing Tokyo. Tokyo is always faced to his camera lens, and he continues to photograph what he saw in the town in the past half century.

"I take a variety of photographs, and there is no discrepancy nor confusion to me since originally I photograph various aspects of human behavior" says Mr. Ishimoto. He always faces present and thinks. Downtown streets, people, cars, streets of office buildings, empty spaces appear in town, etc., we see his keen sense of design in these photographs, and sense of humor as well. Through Mr. Ishimoto's photographs of Tokyo from the 1950's to present shown at the exhibition, we learn anew about his way of photography life: look, express, and think, by photography.

Around 60 photographs from the 1950's to present printed by Ishimoto are shown at the exhibition. This is the exhibition to feel photographic world of Mr. Ishimoto.

Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Born in 1921 in San Francisco. Spent his early life and school days in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, 1924-1939. Returned to the U.S.A. by himself in 1939. Studied at the Chicago Institute of Design (commonly known as New Bauhaus, later placed to the Illinois Institute of Technology.) Graduated from Institute of Design of IIT in 1952. Moved to Japan in 1953.Stayed in Chicago in 1958-61. Obtained Japanese Citizenship in 1969. He is producing enormous numbers of work based in Japan. Received the Person of Cultural Merit Award in 1996. Well known for his masterpieces captures "Chicago", "Tokyo", "Katsura", "Mandala", and "Ise." One-person exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, The Museum of Art Kochi,and others.