The 11th “1_WALL” Photography Exhibition is part of an open competition for the right to mount a solo show at Guardian Garden. The exhibition will feature works by six finalists after two rounds of judging: the first round focusing on all entrants’ portfolios, and the second round consisting of one-on-one discussions between the photographers selected in the initial round and the judges. Each finalist is allocated one wall on which to show his or her works. The final round of judging will take place on November 5 (Wed), i.e. while the exhibition is in progress. During this round, which is open to the public, the six finalists will each give a presentation of his or her works, based on which the judges will select the Grand Prix winner. The winner’s prize is the privilege of holding a solo show at the gallery one year later, plus the right to prepare an exhibition pamphlet.
The eleventh exhibition in this series brings together a colorful array of works by the six finalists. Hiroki Urabe focuses on the underlying weakness and wavering aspect of people and things. Mizue Kitada creates portraits of females stripped naked from a desire to get at the flesh and blood underneath their makeup and clothing. Yui Takahashi takes self-portraits shot in the identical pose and identical lighting in front of the clothes closets of her deceased mother and grandmother, wearing their clothes. Soushi Tanaka photographs in the dark mechanically, using his camera’s self-timer, aiming to remove any intent or individuality on his part in order to create works consisting solely of data passed through his camera. Takamitsu Nii focuses on the planar aspect of photographs whose space is two-dimensionally fixed, taking the objects in his room as the components of his images in an attempt to reinterpret space. Shiho Yoshida creates works from copies of the overflowing abundance of photos found on the Internet, taking photos of them and so on in her trial to give substance to images and fragments of memories.
The 6 Finalists
*At the open round of final judging on November 5, Shiho Yoshida was selected as the Grand Prix winner.
Hiroki Urabe
Born in 1985.
“weak”
Weakness hovering around everything. From that unstable modality, catching wind of transition.
Mizue Kitada
Born in 1991. Graduated from Vantan Design Institute (Osaka) with a concentration in photography.
“temperament and instinct in her”
Suffering for being a woman, saved by being a woman
What does it mean to be a woman to the marrow of her bones
After removing her undergarments and becoming naked
I want to see her face as an “individual”
Her air of sexuality and instinct as a woman
Yui Takahashi
Born in 1986. Graduated from Tokyo College of Photography.
“CLOSET”
As a child I often played in my mother’s closet.
The next time I opened that closet door was to dispose of her things after she died.
Mother, Grandmother, me; through our closets I probe my relationship with my mother.
Soushi Tanaka
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1978.
“ILLUMINATE THE PERIOD Ⅱ”
In the basic phenomenon of light, when passed through a machine, creating data, I thought about entrusting my body to a machine and carving out data.
Takamitsu Nii
Born in 1987. Graduated from Nippon Photography Institute.
“space above a flat surface”
Observation of unbalanced space created by the collision of two objects.
＊Grand Prize Winner＊
Shiho Yoshida
Born in 1992. Graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University, Faculty of Art, Department of Photography.
“Log”
I wanted to give it form.
Mizue Kitada
Born in 1991. Graduated from Vantan Design Institute (Osaka) with a concentration in photography.
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Yui Takahashi
Born in 1986. studied at The Evergreen State College in 2009. Graduate...
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1978.
Takamitsu Nii
Born in 1987. Graduated from Nippon Photography Institute.
Born in 1992. Graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic University, Faculty of Art, Department of Photography...
Judges (in Japanese syllabary order)
Atsuki Kikuchi（Graphic designer）
Born in Tokyo in 1974. He attended Musashino Art University, majoring in Sculpture. In 2000 he established Bluemark, and then in 2011 he founded his own design studio. His work areas include brand planning, logo design, signage planning, editorial design, etc., with a strong focus on art, fashion and architecture. He is also the principal of Book Peak, planners and publishers of art books.
Ryudai Takano（Photographer）
Born in 1963. His major photo books are IN MY ROOM (Sokyusha), How to contact a man (Akio Nagasawa Publishing), Kasubaba (Daiwa Press), α (SUPER DELUXE) and Manazashi ni fureru (Suiseisha). In 2006 he won a Kimura Ihei Award in Photography.
Sayaka Takahashi（Gallery Director of PGI）
Born in Chiba Prefecture. Studied Literature at Waseda University under Osamu Hiraki. In 1998, she participated as a volunteer at the Higashikawa International Photo Festival, and from 2003 through 2010 served as the festival’s on-site production leader and assistant director. Since the winter of 1998, she has been involved in work relating to photographic preservation and display at Photo Gallery International (PGI), where as Director she is in charge of exhibition planning and operation.
Hiromi Tsuchida（Photographer）
Born in Fukui Prefecture in 1939. His major works include Zokushin (1976), Hiroshima (1985), Counting Grains of Sand (1990) and BERLIN (2011). In 2008 he won the Domon Ken Award. Collections of his works are found at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, etc.
Satoshi Machiguchi（Art director, Publisher）
President of the design studio match and company, inc. In 2005 he launched “M,” a photo book label, and began operating “bookshop M,” a website selling photo books. Since 2008 he has continuously exhibited his works at “Paris Photo,” one of the world’s foremost photography festivals, just one example of how he demonstrates his unique approach to his art. He probes the possibilities of Japanese photo books from a global perspective.
Organizer: Guardian Garden
