Hiroshi Sugimoto

Sugimoto is a Japanese photographer currently who spends his time working in Tokyo, Japan and New York City. His works include of a number of series, each having a distinct theme and similar attributes. Sugimoto has spoken of his work as an expression of ‘time exposed’, or photographs serving as a time capsule for a series of events in time. The work also focuses on transience of life, and the conflict between life and death.

Sugimoto is also deeply influenced by the writings and works of Marcel Duchamp, as well as the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. In 1976, Sugimoto began his work with "Dioramas", a series in which he photographed displays in natural history museums. In these, he plays with our cultural assumption of truth in the photographic image. His series "Portraits", begun in 1999, were based on a similar idea. In that series, Sugimoto photographed wax figures of Henry VIII and his wives. These wax figures are based on portraits from the 1500s and when taking the picture Sugimoto attempts to recreate the lighting that would have been used by the painter.