• 

  ©Kochi Prefecture, Ishimoto Yasuhiro Photo Center

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Yasuhiro Ishimoto‘s KATSURA VILLA, an exhibition of color photographs, is held this month.

Returning temporarily to Japan in 1953, he visited Katsura Villa in Kyoto for the first time while on assignment from the the Museum of Modern Art, New York to research Japanese architecture.

Ishimoto found in its architecture the beauty of modernism, and photographed it by eliminating the all elements that appeared ornamental to his Bauhaus sensibilities. He later arranged the photographs to be published as a book entitled “KATSURA: Tradition and Creation in Japanese Architecture” (Yale University and Zoukei-sha, 1960). Edited by Herbert Bayer, with texts by Kenzo Tange and Walter Gropius, the book created a sensation and had much influence over the later history of architecture.

A six-year project for demolishing and restoring the edifice begun in 1976 nearly a quarter-century after his first visit to the villa. Ishimoto took photographs of Katsura again in 1981 and 1982, about the time the project was coming to completion. On this occasion, he photographed in color, with an extensive use of electronic flash. He concentrated on capturing its atmosphere, construction and color as they were reflected in his mind. These photographs were published by Iwanami-Shoten in the book KATSURA VILLA (1983).

More than 20 images photographed in 1981 and 1982 are on exhibition.
Please note: the images do not appear on this site.

Ishimoto’s most recent works of people on the street corner (2002-03) are also shown.

Yasuhiro Ishimoto

Born in San Francisco in 1921. Studied photography at the Institute of Design in Chicago?(commonly known as New Bauhaus) 1948-52. Became a Japanese citizen in 1969, ever since he lives in Japan. In 1996, he was named as a Man of Cultural Distinction by the Japanese government. He is representative photographer of Japan, well known for the excellent photographs of people and city of “Chicago” and “Tokyo”, as well as “Katsura”, “Mandalas of the Two World”, “Ise Shrine”, etc. Most recent publication “Moment” (published in 2004) is remarkable. He had one-person exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (U.S.A.), The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, (Tokyo), Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Tokyo), The Museum of Art, Kochi (Kochi), etc.

Exhibitions at PGI