Haruto Hoshi “Shinjuku 1999-2008”
Zen Foto Gallery is pleased to present Haruto Hoshi’s photography exhibition, “Shinjuku 1999–2008”, from June 27 (Friday) to August 9 (Saturday), 2025. This will be Hoshi’s first solo exhibition at Zen Foto Gallery. The exhibition will feature selected works from his photobook of the same title, published last autumn.
Hoshi, who started taking photographs in the late 1990s, felt comfortable with the depth of the city’s nostalgia and the warmth and kindness of its people as he walked around Shinjuku with his camera around the year 2000, and found himself at home there. But the city has changed over time. Now that he is far away, he has looked again at the black-and-white photos he took of Shinjuku in the past and has put these back together to make a record of Shinjuku “back then”, including previously unpublished works.
During the exhibition, there will be a talk between Hoshi and photographer Yang Seung-Woo.
Nowadays, I don’t often get the chance to visit Shinjuku, but I sometimes wander aimlessly around Kabukicho between errands.
As I watch people passing by, I sometimes stop and look at people or situations that catch my eye. But I don’t photograph them anymore.
The area is busy and crowded, but the nights when I felt excited just by being there seem long gone.
Now I even feel relieved at the distance between Shinjuku and me.
But no matter how much the people, the city and myself have changed, I cannot help but feel that one day I will be strongly drawn to the power of human survival that will probably emanate from somewhere in this area.
— Haruto Hoshi
