Photographer Ichigo Sugawara's exhibition will open at Leica Gallery in Tokyo and Kyoto.

© Ichigo Sugawara

His work has been selected for the permanent collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, he was the cinematographer for the film "Blue Fish," and his almost daily series "I Love Photography More. (a revised edition will be released in 2023).

Photographer Kazutake Sugawara's work has been recognized in many places, and the exhibition opening June 20 and 21 focuses on his native Hokkaido.

© Ichigo Sugawara

This exhibition features landscape photographs of Hokkaido, which Mr. Sugawara left as a child and quietly gazed upon as if searching for his lost hometown. The photographs, along with his deep gaze, capture the quiet moments when people and nature mingle in this pioneer land overlooking the Hidaka Mountains.

The exhibited works were produced using specially formulated wet-colored glass prints and inkjet prints. Combining classical techniques with modern technology, the overlapping layers of light and time are delicately depicted.

The event will be held at a total of three venues: Leica Gallery Tokyo, Leica Professional Store Tokyo on the 2nd floor of the Leica Ginza Store, and Leica Gallery Kyoto on the 2nd floor of the Leica Kyoto Store. Lastly, a message from Mr. Sugawara.

I was born in Sapporo.
However, I have very few memories of Hokkaido because we moved there when I was two years old due to my father's work.
Still, there is always a sense of Hokkaido as a special place that pulls at me like a gravitational pull.
Many people may think of Hokkaido as a place of magnificent natural beauty, but the history of modern Hokkaido,
The project would not have begun without the cultivation of land in a harsh environment covered with virgin forest.
Naoyuki Sakamoto (1906-1982), a well-known agricultural painter, when he settled in the Tokachi region,
I hear that they chose the location where the Hidaka Mountains can be seen most beautifully.
With this as his axis, he devoted himself to painting, mountain climbing, and writing while farming.
And I want to see the scenes that emerge between the people who continue to confront such great nature,
I keep looking at it as if I were searching for my hometown.