Hiroshi Sugimoto is a renowned Japanese contemporary artist. Additionally, his practice spans photography, architecture, stage production, calligraphy, and porcelain. He seeks to capture the reality and essence of things through philosophical expression. His approach blends conceptual depth with sensory detail.

Moreover, Japanese aesthetics, including Zen, Noh, tea ceremony, wabi-sabi, and spatial concepts, influence his foundation. This grounding shapes how he moves between disciplines and frames memory in the present. His work invites viewers to consider time as a material too.

The exhibition traces the evolution of Sugimoto’s photographic practice from the 1970s to the present. Moreover, it focuses on silver-gelatin photography. This medium is at the core of Sugimoto’s practice and faces extinction in the digital era. As a result, the exhibition invites reflection on change and continuity. Hiroshi Sugimoto: Extinction frames this inquiry across decades.

It also suggests the end of Sugimoto’s activities. Additionally, the show features 60–65 works spanning all 13 major series, from the 1970s to 2025. Through its philosophical depth, the exhibition invites viewers to consider what may disappear. In this context, memory and time become central themes.

The final question asks whether silver-gelatin photography or human beings endure. Readers are invited to weigh permanence against changing technologies. The exhibit therefore foregrounds memory as a living, evolving practice. The piece places memory at the center of contemporary photographic discourse.

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Structured into three chapters, the exhibition spans 13 series.

Chapter 1: Time, Light, Memory

• Dioramas
• Theaters
• Seascapes

Chapter 2: Conceptual Forms

• Construction Series
• Stylized Sculpture explores shapes produced by human intellect and imagination.

Chapter 3: Extinction

• Pre-Photography Time-Recording Device
• Photogenic Drawing
• Opticks Tokyo Art Beat

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Silver-gelatin photography is a technique that reflects silver particles contained in film or photo paper in light to fix as an image. This method records tones and textures that differ from digital capture, yielding a distinct, grainy depth.

It is an analog, not digital, technique. Its physical materials and chemical processes contribute to a tangible quality that many viewers associate with endurance and memory.

Sugimoto Hiroshi, Photography, Time and Memory, argued that the medium should be valued higher; he chose silver-gelatin processes. His stance reflected a shift away from treating it as a secondary art form and toward recognizing the discipline’s material and historical significance.

In the exhibition, Sugimoto himself cites a waka poem to explain the artworks. Zen monks used the style to explain the artwork in the 14th- 15th centuries. His waka is sometimes funny and makes us laugh. I felt Sugimoto’s sense of humor, and it is fun!

Chapter 1: Time, Light, Memory

His Diorama series intentionally photographs fake museum displays to question what “real” means. Sugimoto intended to express that reality is constructed, not captured. Documentary photography treats reality as evidence. However, Sugimoto’s Theaters series collapses an entire film into a single glowing screen, compressing hours into one frame.

Historically, photography was treated as a visual instrument for recording reality.

Moreover, Sugimoto believes photography is a metaphysical tool whose goal is to reveal time, memory, impermanence, and duration.

His images are not pictures of things; they are records of duration, and the white screen symbolizes time.

Sugimoto’s images are quiet, minimal, and philosophical because they come from Japanese aesthetics. Instead of freezing a moment, he stretches it and questions whether it was real.

“Seascape” series is a landmark in the philosophy of minimalist art. Moreover, Japanese aesthetics, minimalism, and emptiness have influenced it. Seven seascapes taken at different places at different times share the same horizon. Even ancient people shared the same composition.

Additionally, The Seascape series raises questions about time. However, in Western tradition, time is usually frozen as the decisive moment. Sugimoto stretches time, and viewers experience “time”. This elongation invites reflection on memory and duration. The work thus ties moment to memory in a vivid sequence.

Here, Sugimoto cited a poem,

“When I was in the village of ancient Greek mythology in the Aegean Sea, my thought goes to a battle there, and they cannot lose in the aimless battle with Macedonia”.

Chapter 2: Conceptual Forms

In the “Architecture” series, he intentionally put the objects out of focus, and long exposures erase details and create temporal ambiguity. He tried to capture concept rather than complete form.

“Stylized Sculpture” explores the relationship between the human body and clothing and regards it as modern sculpture. It shapes produced by human intellect and imagination.

“Portrait” series shows realistic portraits, but they were wax figures. Sugimoto questions reality vs. duplication, record vs. reproduction.

Overall, the theme of “extinction” provides a powerful narrative about analog vs. digital; Sugimoto’s images are not pictures of things, but records of duration. Sugimoto offers fresh insight into themes he has pursued for more than half a century. We saw a film as well. It was an interesting exhibition to learn about Sugimoto Hiroshi’s breadth and philosophical depth and an opportunity to reflect on truth, memory, and time.

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HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: EXTINCTION

Venue: Tokyo National Museum of Modern ArtVenue: Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art

1F Special Exhibition Gallery

Dates: June 16, 2026 – September 13, 2026

Closed: Mondays