ART | Toshiya Murakoshi Photography Exhibition "Through the Grove"
ART | Landscapes Around My Childhood Home, Photographed in Pursuit of My Late Grandmother's Shadow
Toshiya Murakoshi Photo Exhibition: 'Through the Grove'
An exhibition of photographs by Toshiya Murakoshi, titled 'Through the Grove,' is being held at Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film in Roppongi, Minato-ku, until Saturday, May 11. The exhibition features 15 previously unpublished works shot by Murakoshi in his hometown of Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture.
Text by YANAKA Tomomi
'Small Landscapes of My Hometown Have Become Beautiful Memories'
Born in 1980, Toshiya Murakoshi is currently based in Tokyo. Since 2006, he has chosen his hometown as his subject, continuously photographing it as if tracing his memories of growing up there. Even after the Great East Japan Earthquake, he has continued to capture images of his home, Fukushima.
The 'Through the Grove' exhibition comprises works from 2009, a period when experiencing his grandmother's death led him to connect the act of photographing his local landscape with memories of his family. This series follows his previously published photo books, 'Looking at the Snow' (2010) and 'The Scent of Earth' (2011). A photobook, also titled 'Through the Grove,' featuring images from this exhibition, has also been released.
In January 2009, Murakoshi returned to his hometown repeatedly, hoping to capture even a few photographs of his grandmother, who had been given three months to live. However, he found himself unable to point his camera at his grandmother's emaciated form. Instead, each time he visited his family home, he photographed the areas around it, as if chasing his grandmother's shadow. The works on display are those he continued to create even after his grandmother passed away in April.
Murakoshi states, 'Human memories gradually fade, but I felt that the small landscapes of my hometown where I spent time with my grandmother, and the fragments of memories etched there, would surely remain. Even landscapes that were once unremarkable have now become beautiful memories.' The photographs presented here are likely to evoke universal themes of familial love and a nostalgic longing for the formative landscapes of our childhoods, resonating with our own memories.
Toshiya Murakoshi Photo Exhibition 'Through the Grove'
Period | Friday, April 12 – Saturday, May 11 *Closed Sundays, Mondays, and national holidays
Hours | 11:00 – 19:00
Venue | Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film
2F, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-6447-1035
Toshiya Murakoshi Photobook 'Through the Grove'
Size | H18.3 × W15.5 cm, 40 pages
Number of works included | 19
Publisher | TAP/Taka Ishii Gallery
Price | ¥2,520