Hiroshi Sugimoto: ‘My camera works as a time machine’
‘Since the invention of photography, the history of describing the world has been drastically changed’.
As we prepared for the opening of Hiroshi Sugimoto at the Hayward Gallery – the largest survey to date of Sugimoto’s works – we travelled to meet the photographer at the Enoura Observatory in Japan. Situated against the outer rim of the country’s Hakone Mountains, the observatory was designed by Sugimoto as a forum for disseminating art and culture.
In this short video interview Sugimoto considers the impact the invention of the camera had, with this new ability to pause the world around us. He also explains how his own photography draws on this idea of the camera’s ability to distort linear time; something he explored through his Seascapes series.
‘A camera can be able to stop the world, in that we stop the world and then investigate what is there, carefully.’
The largest survey to date of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work was at Hayward Gallery, 11 October 2023 – 7 January 2024. Enjoy more articles and videos connected to this exhibition, below.
Hiroshi Sugimoto; still image from Southbank Centre produced video Installation view of Hiroshi Sugimoto, Dioramas. Silver gelatin prints. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery. Hiroshi Sugimoto, Self Portrait, 2003 © Hiroshi Sugimoto. Courtesy of the artist. Installation view of Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Buddha. Gelatin silver prints. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery. Installation view of Hiroshi Sugimoto, Polar Bear, 1976. Silver gelatin print. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.
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