The “Time Tunnel” series of exhibitions spotlights the early years of designers who currently rank among the renowned leaders of their craft. For this 26th exhibition in the series, we requested the participation of Bishin Jumonji, one of Japan’s most prominent photographers.

Bishin Jumonji became a freelance photographer at the age of 24, in 1971. After his debut work, “UNTITLED” (no heads), was featured in “Camera Mainichi” magazine, he was invited to show his photos at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1974, for which his high acclaim spread beyond Japan. Around the same time, for his very first job for “anan” magazine, he put together a 10-page fashion spread with the assistance of an outstanding staff that included Issey Miyake – a remarkable feat for a newly emerging photographer.

Starting the following year, Mr. Jumonji began producing a succession of photographs for advertisements promoting Shiseido and Matsushita Electric Industrial. The experimental and spectacular expression imbued in such works had a powerful impact on the public, and they received numerous awards from the Tokyo Art Directors Club (ADC). Meanwhile, his strong personal interests led Mr. Jumonji to produce a number of highly notable photographic collections. These include: Ran no Fune / Orchid Boat (1981), a photographic reportage focused on 7 years in the lives of first-generation Japanese immigrants to Hawaii; Sumitotta Yami / Darkness Becoming Visible (1987) documenting the myths of a minority tribe native to Asia; and Ogon Futenjin / Golden Heavenly Beings (1990), a lavish collection of photographs of Japanese artworks in gold, which led to Mr. Jumonji’s later use of 3D photo technology. His inexhaustible enthusiasm for creating remarkable works continues to this day.

On display in “Falling into Photographs” will be the fruit of what Mr. Jumonji refers to as “going beyond the senses.” He aspires to sense what others don’t sense, to see what others have never seen. He believes that, if he is able to carry out this yearning, the result will be of great interest. The works on display represent the tracks of his explorations into expressing photographically what he himself senses.

The two galleries will highlight Bishin Jumonji’s full array of works, from his debut up to the present, with a focus on his ad photos and photographic artworks.