Ishikawa is a young 30 year old photographer who has previously released a collection of photos featuring prehistoric murals called "New Dimension," and a monograph called "Polar," the fruit of 10 years of travels to the Arctic Circle. These works captured the minds of viewers with its awe-inspiring presence. Through these activities, Ishikawa received both the Japan Photography Association Newcomer's Prize and the Kodansha Publishing Culture Prize this year. This exhibition entitled "Vernacular: Corners of the World" features new works that depict intimate encounters with people living in arctic Canada, France, and West Africa.
Ishikawa began his travels in his late teens, cultivating a perspective all his own tackling the unexpected surprises that come with journeying to uncharted territory. "The Void", published in 2005 by Knee High Media Japan, took the sacred primeval forests of the Maori people of New Zealand as its motif, capturing within his frame something of that primordial energy in his photos, as well as a sense of open airiness and anxiety inherent to that environment. "Polar" also depicts something of that human terror and powerlessness in the face of awesome nature, as well as a certain isolation and loneliness that reminds viewers of the simple fact of being alive.
"Vernacular" carries on in this vein, conveying a strong sense of existence and of being, giving expression to the will to live in these various human habitats and environments.
1 minute walk from exit 2 at Kyobashi Station on the Ginza line, 3 minute walk from exit 6 at Ginza-itchome Station on the Yurakucho line, 3 minute walk from exit A4 at Takaracho Station on the Toei Asakusa line.
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