Shoji Ueda: In Search of a Subject

About the Exhibition

The exhibition presents 125 silver gelatin prints and photographs made on color paper using black and white negatives that illustrate the span of Ueda’s work from 1930 to 1986, including his photographic projects Dunes:  Four Seasons of Children (PARCO Ed., Tokyo, 1978), Brilliant Scenes (Nippon Camerasha, 1974), White Wind (Shiroi Kaze, Tokyo, 1981), Brilliant Scenes (Nippon Camerasha, 1981), and Dunes:  Photographs by Shoji Ueda (PARCO, Ed., Tokyo, 1986).

Surrealism and humor have long been companions and invitations to speculation, but in contemporary Japanese photography, Ueda’s work– coming from a depth of complexity and refined throughout the dedication of an artist unpressured by Tokyo and its posturing–seems to offer an important statement of seriousness in the medium.  A unique structural beauty lies at the heart of Shoji Ueda’s “style”.  He always considers the right camera distance and the right angle, in search of what he considers the best moments– in search of a subject.