Shoko Hashimoto “Ishinomaki”

Dates: August 25 (Fri) — September 22 (Fri), 2023

Artist Talk: August 26 (Sat), 2023 16:00-17:00

Opening Reception: August 26 (Sat), 2023 17:00-19:00

Zen Foto Gallery is pleased to present “Ishinomaki”, a photography exhibition by Shoko Hashimoto from August 25 to September 22, 2023.

Born in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture in 1939, Shoko Hashimoto has been documenting the people and the landscapes of where he was born and raised for more than half a century since he was a teenager. After Ishinomaki was wiped out by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Hashimoto travelled back to his hometown immediately; He spent three years photographing the people who were striving to resume their daily life and published his work “Ishinomaki 2011.3.27–2014.5.29” with Shumpusha in 2014.

In this exhibition, we will present a selection of vibrant photographs taken of Ishinomaki by Hashimoto from when he was a teenager until he was about thirty years old. We will also publish a publication under the same title to commemorate the exhibition.

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Artist Profile

Shoko HASHIMOTO

Born in Ishinomaki in 1939, Hashimoto graduated from Nihon University, College of Art in 1964, specializing in photography. In 1974, he received the Newcomer Award from the Photographic Society of Japan with his photobook “Goze” (Nora-sha). In the same year, the series was selected for the “15 Photographers” exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and collected by the museum. Hashimoto actively photographed Lee Dynasty folk paintings in Korea from 1979 to 1981. He had travelled to Nagano, Yamagata, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Yamanashi and Miyagi prefectures to document the folk customs of Japan that were gradually disappearing as a photojournalist. Since 2011, he has regularly returned to photograph his hometown, Ishinomaki, which was devastated by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. His recent solo exhibitions include: “Goze” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2013; Zeit-Foto Salon, 2014), “Nishiyama Onsen — Empire of Nakedness” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2014), “A Village Lullaby” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2015), “Biwa Houshi” (Zeit-Foto Salon, 2016), “Literary Scholars” (Sokyusha, 2017), “Goze” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2020), “Goze — Shoko Hashimoto” (Ikeda Art Museum, Niigata, 2022), and “Goze” (AN-A Fundación, Barcelona, 2022). His publications include: “Goze” (Aron Shobo, 1988), “Kitakami River” (Shumpusha, 2014), “Nishiyama Onsen” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2014), “Kitakami River New Edition” (Shumpusha, 2015), “Undergrowth” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2016), “San’ya 1968.8.1–8.20” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2017), “Goze Asahigraph Reprint” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2019) and “Goze” (New Complete Edition, Zen Foto Gallery, 2021).

Publications & Prints