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  ©Yasutaka Kojima

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  ©Atsuto Shimada

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  ©Koyuki Tayama

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  ©Hirotoshi Nishioka

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  ©Narumi Hiramoto

PGI is pleased to present PGI Summer Show 2019 “mono / tone”, a group exhibition of young photographers who are expressing with black and white photographs and will be on view through Saturday, August 24.

Throughout history, technological advancements have given artists an array of new tools with which to express themselves. This is especially true with photography, where each innovation has the potential to radically change what is possible.

It has been 180 years since the creation of the daguerreotype. 100 years later color film became commercially available, yet it wasn’t until the 1970s that it began to match the quality and stability standards demanded by many photographers. With the advent of digital cameras and inkjet printers, both currently unparalleled in archivability, the majority of photography is now done digitally.

This group exhibition will introduce talented young photographers we’ve encountered at portfolio reviews and events.

Just like a painter chooses their brushes and paints, photographers must choose their process and equipment from the overwhelming number of options offered by modern technology. A photographer may shoot in black and white for a particular portrait but decide that only color will do for another subject. Some photographers select black and white film due to a reverence for darkroom work, while others may have simply picked it up because that’s what their favorite photographers use. Others still use both monochrome and color images within the same series.

We invite you to enjoy these works of black and white and the infinite number of tones that exist between them.

This exhibition will feature around 50 photographs.

[Photographers]

Yasutaka Kojima

Born in 1977 in Tokyo, Japan. Move to the US in 2006. Currently based in Berlin.

Recipient of the ICP Director’s Scholarship Award in 2007 and fellow of the Japanese Government’s 2011 Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists. Featured in Tokyo Photographic Art Museum’s Tokyo Tokyo and TOKYO – Contemporary Japanese Photography vol.13- in 2016, among many other group and personal exhibitions worldwide.

Atsuto Shimada

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1989. Graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University with a degree in photography in 2011. Recipient of the Shiogama Photo Festival’s portfolio review Special Award, winner of the Gelatin Silver Session Grand Prix and runner-up in the Higashikawa International Photo Festival Gran Prix.

Koyuki Tayama

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1987. Began working in Ise upon graduating from Tokyo Zokei University. Currently working between Tokyo and Shizuoka. Creates series by immersing herself in an environment and striving to capture its history and atmosphere in images.

Hirotoshi Nishioka

Born in Kanazawa Prefecture in 1982. Studied architecture and furniture design at Istituto Europeo di Design’s  Milan campus. Based in Tokyo since 2010.

Narumi Hiramoto

Began exhibiting works in 2017. Winner of the 20th 1_WALL Gran Prix in 2019.