naoya hatakeyama captures catastrophe, change, renovation and rebirth in japan

photographer naoya hatakeyama is interested in the growth and decline of cities in his native japan. shooting with film, the artist seeks to trace the ways in which human intervention has transformed nature into a manmade environment. his work depicts construction, catastrophe, change, destruction, renovation and rebirth, emphasizing what lies at the intersection of nature and urbanization. large-format images range from the recovery and reconstruction of the artist’s tsunami-swept hometown in japan, to detailed views of limestone quarried by explosive blasts.

10/20/2013 – kesencho-atagoyama, from rikuzentakata, 2011
chromogenic print | 17.48 x 21.65 (inch)(print); 20 x 24 (inch)(paper)
minneapolis institute of art; the ted and dr. roberts mann foundation endowment fund 2017

twelve of naoya hatakeyama’s photo series — representing nearly 100 works created over the past 30 years — have recently been shown at the minneapolis institute of art for the exhibition ‘excavating the future city’. each image seeks to capture the evolution of urban landscapes as seen through phases of creation, change, and destruction over time in japan’s contemporary topographies. subjects shift from studies of architectural models, the extraction of natural materials, and factories and building sites — each examining a different aspect of life in cities. accompanying the exhibition is a comprehensive catalogue authored by yasufumi nakamori with contributions by toyo ito and philippe forest, published in collaboration between MIA and aperture foundation.

12/07/2014 – kesencho-atagoyama, from rikuzentakata, 2014
chromogenic print | 17.48 x 21.65 (inch)(print); 20 x 24 (inch)(paper)
minneapolis institute of art; the ted and dr. roberts mann foundation endowment fund 2017

‘I walk. as usual, there are things in the field of vision before me,’ naoya hatakeyama writes as part of an essay in the catalog. ‘as I walk, they change in size and shape. light and space, as sensation, not only exists before me, but also envelops me, moves me, and makes me happy. then, important faces and words suddenly come back to me from the past. I put my camera on a tripod, direct the lens toward a thing, and think, ‘there are so many things in the world that cannot be photographed.’ yet I release the shutter, because if I didn’t take a photograph, I would not have known this very fact. photography is like a ship carrying light and space and heading toward the future.’

05/01/2011 – yonesakichô-dônomae, from rikuzentakata, 2011
chromogenic print | 17.48 x 21.65 (inch)(print); 20 x 24 (inch)(paper)
minneapolis institute of art; the ted and dr. roberts mann foundation endowment fund 2017

05/02/2011 – takatacho-morinomae, from rikuzentakata, 2011
chromogenic print | 17.48 x 21.65 (inch)(print); 20 x 24 (inch)(paper)
minneapolis institute of art; the ted and dr. roberts mann foundation endowment fund 2017