TAB Event - Michael E.J. Stanley “Kotosaheku”

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At hpgrp Gallery Tokyo
Media: Photography

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We are pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Kotosaheku by the Japan-based American-born photographer Michael E. J. Stanley. The unusual title derives from an ancient Japanese word that evokes a sense of distance and alienation.

After studying archeology and linguistics, Michael relocated to Japan in 1979 and has remained in Japan since then. Michael has had the opportunity to delve into the history and the culture of Japan while working in the fields of print and broadcast journalism in this country. At times he has undertaken the interesting challenge of explaining aspects of Japan to the Japanese themselves.

Michael’s photographs bring to life a Japan of other eras, with his subjective images growing from objective, historical verification. In making them, he has managed to understand and express this country in a new and different way. His work contains great tension of black versus white; this is coupled with an unusual spectrum of rich tones. Such a combination helps the viewer slip away from the present and enter a visual accumulation of history and time. Michael indeed revives the primordial scenery of this country, images that are truly ‘kotosaheku’ – evoking distances from the present that we know.

There is a fundamental difference between the Japanese and English words for ‘photograph’. The English word is combination of the Greek ‘phos’ (light) and ‘graphein’ (draw or write). ‘Shashin’ (’photograph’ in Japanese) literally means ‘to copy the truth’. Each of these is an adequate expression in its own way, yet both refer to the same process and result. Michael’s work weaves together existing scenes and objects with an angled light of history. It splendidly embodies both concepts of ‘photograph’ and ‘shashin’.

With the ongoing evolution of the modern communication media the world’s dimensions seem to grow smaller and smaller. Differences disappear. Perhaps it is time to catch those faint, distant voices that are so easily lost in the glare and noise of globalism.
　
Please enjoy these magnificent images that reverse the current of the modern, bringing to life the primordial light and shadow of an ancient Japan.

hpgrp GALLERY TOKYO, director Kentaro Totsuka

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