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  ©Kozo Miyoshi

Kozo Miyoshi is one of the representative contemporary photographers in Japan. He, who photographs with an 8×10 inch camera, has made masterpieces in Japan as well as in the U.S. during his stay in the 1990’s. 

His works such as “Seagirt”, “SAKURA”, “Tokyo Street”, “In the Road”, “Southwest”, “Picture Show”, etc., are well-known worldwide. The photographs by Kozo Miyoshi represents not only factual images what he observed but also shows lapse of time laying beneath or behind landscapes and spirit of people.

“Travels deliver my photographs”, says Miyoshi. He typically spends about one or two weeks, sometimes even a month, traveling and taking photographs. On the other hand, he sometimes spends an entire day just exploring neighborhoods of Tokyo. Grew up in a town near Tokyo and have regularly visited the city for as long as he can remember, now he is a resident of Tokyo, and it has become one of the destinations. 

The occasions that motivate him are always different. “The changing seasons, the news of a demolition of old architecture, and the festivities are all interesting to me,” says Miyoshi. These short photo shoots make him a traveler in familiar towns. He does not know where he will go until he load his camera, his car, and get on the road. “I turn right at the stoplight, then left at the next intersection. I turn right again, another left, and right once more. I am an observer as I step into the cityscape. I see the familiar and the unfamiliar in places I’ve already been.” There he finds the moments that make up his memories and memories yet to be had, and he is a traveler filled with wonder.

There are around 40 gelatin silver breathtaking prints (print size 20×24-inch) photographed in 1998 to 2005 in the exhibition.

Kozo Miyoshi
Born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, 1947. Graduated from the Department of Photography, Nihon University, 1971. Government Overseas Training Program for Artists One year Internship at the Center For Creative Photography, University of Arizona, 1991. Continued to stay in Tucson, Arizona, till 1996. Living in Tokyo at present.

Selected recent one-person exhibitions: “Seagirt” P.G.I.(2004), “SAKURA” P.G.I.(2003), “CAMERA” P.G.I.(2002), “Tokyo Street” P.G.I.(1999), “Far East and Southwest: The Photography of Kozo Miyoshi” Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson (1994). Public Collection: National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo/ Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography/ International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House/ Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona/ The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/ and others.

Exhibitions at PGI