Hiroshi Sugimoto  (Japanese, 1948) 

Photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto (Japanese, b.1948) is known for his explorations of the illusionary properties of photography. Born in Tokyo, Sugimoto initially studied politics and sociology at St. Paul’s University in Tokyo, but in 1970 he enrolled at the Art Center College of Art and Design in Los Angeles to study Fine Art. He subsequently moved to New York, where he established himself as a photographer interested in the representation of reality. Influenced by Dada and Surrealist techniques and aesthetics, Sugimoto photographed movie and opera houses, natural history dioramas, and wax figures, using long exposures to create eerie scenes with unnatural lighting. Sugimoto is also a practicing architect and has designed specific spaces to exhibit his photography; his interest in architecture is also evident in his numerous photographs of old buildings. His work is highly esteemed and has been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, among other institutions. He has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Sugimoto currently divides his time between Tokyo and New York.