MITSURU SAKURAI
Mitsuru Sakurai’s photographs give an impression of being inorganic yet sharp. I first encountered Sakurai’s work in April 2021 at his solo exhibition “Fe” held at Arts Chiyoda 3331. The exhibition focused on iron as a material, and Sakurai presented quiet yet powerful images by capturing parts of structures made of iron, such as steel towers, from his unique perspective. The details of each structure were carefully selected, and the forms stood out beautifully, and it was impressive how the inorganic steel radiated a presence as if it had acquired life. In the subsequent series, he took lighthouses from across Japan on his theme. Here too, Sakurai’s unique sensibility is evident, and standing before the large-format prints of the lighthouses, one feels as though they are traveling through time and space.
Sakurai has long photographed large-scale structures such as the rocket assembly sites at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, steel towers, and lighthouses. After exploring the relationship between artificial objects, space, and perspective through the “Fe” and ‘BP’ series, he is now working on a new series called “Im,” which focuses on the internal theme of “I.”
While seeking a transformation in his expression, he had the opportunity to photograph Buddhist statues, which sparked his interest in Buddhism and the background of Buddhist statues, leading him to visit Nara. He was deeply moved by the spiritual depth he encountered there and felt uncomfortable about simply incorporating it into his work. As a result, he returned to self-portraits as his subject and reexamined the origins of his expression.
Recognizing that Buddhist statues are “forms of enlightenment and truth” and were originally intended to be unseen by the public, he overlayed the relationship between “invisible existence” and “visible form” onto himself, using it as the axis of his expression. Additionally, referencing the quantum mechanical perspective that the state of an object changes through observation, he continues to reconstruct the multifaceted nature of “self.”
WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
1979 Born in Tokyo
2003 Graduated from Department of Design, Visual Communication photography course at Tokyo Zokei University
2023 Part-time faculty member at Tokyo Zokei University, Department of Design, Region of Photography Major (current)
AWARDS
2014 Prix de la Photographie de Paris（PX3） Nature/wildlife category Gold medal
2016 Graphis Photography Annual 2016 'Series Gold’
2019 IPA (International Photography Award) Architecture/Industrial 1st Place
2021 Tokyo TDC Annual Awards 2021 Prize Nominee Works
2023 Sony World Photography Awards 2023 Professional Architecture & Design category Shortlist
PASTEXHIBITIONS
2019 IPA (International Photography Award) BEST OF SHOW - CURATOR SELECTION in New York and
others
2020 Solo Exhibition "Fe" at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo, Japan
2021 Solo Exhibition "Fe" at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo, Japan
2022 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2022 at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan
2022 Group Show "Illusion of Reality" at GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS「FOAM CONTEMPORARY」in Tokyo,
Japan
2022 Solo Exhibition "BP" at Sho+1 in Tokyo, Japan
