REPORT
Daisuke Yokota is a photographer who commands domestic and international attention. His works are collected by the Foam Photographic Museum in Amsterdam, and they have received high acclaim at overseas exhibitions and art fairs. In 2019 he was awarded the Kimura Ihei Photographic Award, known as the Akutagawa Award of the photographic world.
His work is characterized by his unique production process, which distinguishes it from that of other photographers. He is widely known for his series of abstract images, which look as though many layers of paint have been applied. Of course, they are not actually painted, nor photographed as visual scenes: the secret is his use of silver grain film. By layering dozens of monochrome and color films in random order and processing them at high temperatures (heat developing) he obtains these color patterns. Yokota explains, “in the heat development the film over-reacts, and sometimes the gelatin on the surface seeps out, distorting the color and quality, and producing these colors and forms.”
Applying photosensitizers to printing paper and exposing it directly to light enables Yokota to produce images without using a camera in some of his work. Searching out these kinds of methods began with the idea of re-thinking the materiality and nature of photography.
“I was initially producing work in the darkroom with more analogue methods – in other words, exposing film onto photographic paper to develop images. Later, I began to shoot digitally, but I felt my interest in photography fading through the production process... Using Photoshop software, I spent longer on the production, but there was a reduced connection to the photography itself. Photography was a chemical invention, and its core is the transformation of matter by the exposure of emulsion and the image being fixed. When I thought again of this essence of the medium, I decided to focus on the chemical phenomena and presence of material that are the basis of photography.”
The main subject is the materiality of photography, so he says that he aims to remove any form of intentional control, such as calculating the temperature of heat development or the time of film exposure. He describes these processes as akin to cooking: “but it’s cooking without knowing what I am making. Like, what kind of taste will I get when I mix these spices and seasonings? It feels like an experiment. It’s fun.”
In this exhibition, Yokota is showing new work that he co-created with the 2.5-dimensional printing technology StareReap.
The title he decided on is ‘Alluvion’, which refers to new strata created by glaciers and rivers. “I have liked strata, fossils, and minerals since I was in school, and I used to go out to collect rocks. In my mind, photography is similar to minerals. They are both reactions between heat and materials. Photography is the outcome of chemical reactions of silver, and of various traces of adulterants like gelatin melting away in heat development, which reminds me of minerals. I have used words and phrases related to strata and rocks in the past, but the nuance of ‘new strata’ the Alluvion gives felt like it would match the newness of the StareReap technology.”
The exhibited works are new versions from a series he has continued to work on since 2012, using heat development. He layered about 100 sheets of 4x5 film (large format film sheets) that had not shot any subjects and put them through heat development. The films were then scanned digitally and StareReap expressed colors and thickness. “Photography is two-dimensional, but depth and shadow are recorded in it as visual information. I thought it was really interesting that the 2.5-dimensional printing technology of StareReap added thickness,” he said, looking back at the production process.
“I imagine that the technology assumes a sense of three-dimensionality from the images and creates levels through its complex algorithms. However, it may not be an accurate thickness, but rather a thickness by assumption or imagination. So, it is not simply replication but a completely distinct expression, an act of disassembling photography, changing a complete system into something incomplete. Photography, in the first place, has recording and replication as its nature and purpose, and in the case of photographic expression – especially printing – it has not broken out of that framework. Using StareReap, I think there might be a discovery of a new way of forming photographic expression, and a way of thinking about photography that is different from ‘recording and replication.’”
His work is characterized by his unique production process, which distinguishes it from that of other photographers. He is widely known for his series of abstract images, which look as though many layers of paint have been applied. Of course, they are not actually painted, nor photographed as visual scenes: the secret is his use of silver grain film. By layering dozens of monochrome and color films in random order and processing them at high temperatures (heat developing) he obtains these color patterns. Yokota explains, “in the heat development the film over-reacts, and sometimes the gelatin on the surface seeps out, distorting the color and quality, and producing these colors and forms.”
Applying photosensitizers to printing paper and exposing it directly to light enables Yokota to produce images without using a camera in some of his work. Searching out these kinds of methods began with the idea of re-thinking the materiality and nature of photography.
“I was initially producing work in the darkroom with more analogue methods – in other words, exposing film onto photographic paper to develop images. Later, I began to shoot digitally, but I felt my interest in photography fading through the production process... Using Photoshop software, I spent longer on the production, but there was a reduced connection to the photography itself. Photography was a chemical invention, and its core is the transformation of matter by the exposure of emulsion and the image being fixed. When I thought again of this essence of the medium, I decided to focus on the chemical phenomena and presence of material that are the basis of photography.”
The main subject is the materiality of photography, so he says that he aims to remove any form of intentional control, such as calculating the temperature of heat development or the time of film exposure. He describes these processes as akin to cooking: “but it’s cooking without knowing what I am making. Like, what kind of taste will I get when I mix these spices and seasonings? It feels like an experiment. It’s fun.”
In this exhibition, Yokota is showing new work that he co-created with the 2.5-dimensional printing technology StareReap.
The title he decided on is ‘Alluvion’, which refers to new strata created by glaciers and rivers. “I have liked strata, fossils, and minerals since I was in school, and I used to go out to collect rocks. In my mind, photography is similar to minerals. They are both reactions between heat and materials. Photography is the outcome of chemical reactions of silver, and of various traces of adulterants like gelatin melting away in heat development, which reminds me of minerals. I have used words and phrases related to strata and rocks in the past, but the nuance of ‘new strata’ the Alluvion gives felt like it would match the newness of the StareReap technology.”
The exhibited works are new versions from a series he has continued to work on since 2012, using heat development. He layered about 100 sheets of 4x5 film (large format film sheets) that had not shot any subjects and put them through heat development. The films were then scanned digitally and StareReap expressed colors and thickness. “Photography is two-dimensional, but depth and shadow are recorded in it as visual information. I thought it was really interesting that the 2.5-dimensional printing technology of StareReap added thickness,” he said, looking back at the production process.
“I imagine that the technology assumes a sense of three-dimensionality from the images and creates levels through its complex algorithms. However, it may not be an accurate thickness, but rather a thickness by assumption or imagination. So, it is not simply replication but a completely distinct expression, an act of disassembling photography, changing a complete system into something incomplete. Photography, in the first place, has recording and replication as its nature and purpose, and in the case of photographic expression – especially printing – it has not broken out of that framework. Using StareReap, I think there might be a discovery of a new way of forming photographic expression, and a way of thinking about photography that is different from ‘recording and replication.’”
Daisuke Yokota is a photographer who commands domestic and international attention. His works are collected by the Foam Photographic Museum in Amsterdam, and they have received high acclaim at overseas exhibitions and art fairs. In 2019 he was awarded the Kimura Ihei Photographic Award, known as the Akutagawa Award of the photographic world.
His work is characterized by his unique production process, which distinguishes it from that of other photographers. He is widely known for his series of abstract images, which look as though many layers of paint have been applied. Of course, they are not actually painted, nor photographed as visual scenes: the secret is his use of silver grain film. By layering dozens of monochrome and color films in random order and processing them at high temperatures (heat developing) he obtains these color patterns. Yokota explains, “in the heat development the film over-reacts, and sometimes the gelatin on the surface seeps out, distorting the color and quality, and producing these colors and forms.”
Applying photosensitizers to printing paper and exposing it directly to light enables Yokota to produce images without using a camera in some of his work. Searching out these kinds of methods began with the idea of re-thinking the materiality and nature of photography.
“I was initially producing work in the darkroom with more analogue methods – in other words, exposing film onto photographic paper to develop images. Later, I began to shoot digitally, but I felt my interest in photography fading through the production process... Using Photoshop software, I spent longer on the production, but there was a reduced connection to the photography itself. Photography was a chemical invention, and its core is the transformation of matter by the exposure of emulsion and the image being fixed. When I thought again of this essence of the medium, I decided to focus on the chemical phenomena and presence of material that are the basis of photography.”
The main subject is the materiality of photography, so he says that he aims to remove any form of intentional control, such as calculating the temperature of heat development or the time of film exposure. He describes these processes as akin to cooking: “but it’s cooking without knowing what I am making. Like, what kind of taste will I get when I mix these spices and seasonings? It feels like an experiment. It’s fun.”
In this exhibition, Yokota is showing new work that he co-created with the 2.5-dimensional printing technology StareReap.
The title he decided on is ‘Alluvion’, which refers to new strata created by glaciers and rivers. “I have liked strata, fossils, and minerals since I was in school, and I used to go out to collect rocks. In my mind, photography is similar to minerals. They are both reactions between heat and materials. Photography is the outcome of chemical reactions of silver, and of various traces of adulterants like gelatin melting away in heat development, which reminds me of minerals. I have used words and phrases related to strata and rocks in the past, but the nuance of ‘new strata’ the Alluvion gives felt like it would match the newness of the StareReap technology.”
The exhibited works are new versions from a series he has continued to work on since 2012, using heat development. He layered about 100 sheets of 4x5 film (large format film sheets) that had not shot any subjects and put them through heat development. The films were then scanned digitally and StareReap expressed colors and thickness. “Photography is two-dimensional, but depth and shadow are recorded in it as visual information. I thought it was really interesting that the 2.5-dimensional printing technology of StareReap added thickness,” he said, looking back at the production process.
“I imagine that the technology assumes a sense of three-dimensionality from the images and creates levels through its complex algorithms. However, it may not be an accurate thickness, but rather a thickness by assumption or imagination. So, it is not simply replication but a completely distinct expression, an act of disassembling photography, changing a complete system into something incomplete. Photography, in the first place, has recording and replication as its nature and purpose, and in the case of photographic expression – especially printing – it has not broken out of that framework. Using StareReap, I think there might be a discovery of a new way of forming photographic expression, and a way of thinking about photography that is different from ‘recording and replication.’”
His work is characterized by his unique production process, which distinguishes it from that of other photographers. He is widely known for his series of abstract images, which look as though many layers of paint have been applied. Of course, they are not actually painted, nor photographed as visual scenes: the secret is his use of silver grain film. By layering dozens of monochrome and color films in random order and processing them at high temperatures (heat developing) he obtains these color patterns. Yokota explains, “in the heat development the film over-reacts, and sometimes the gelatin on the surface seeps out, distorting the color and quality, and producing these colors and forms.”
Applying photosensitizers to printing paper and exposing it directly to light enables Yokota to produce images without using a camera in some of his work. Searching out these kinds of methods began with the idea of re-thinking the materiality and nature of photography.
“I was initially producing work in the darkroom with more analogue methods – in other words, exposing film onto photographic paper to develop images. Later, I began to shoot digitally, but I felt my interest in photography fading through the production process... Using Photoshop software, I spent longer on the production, but there was a reduced connection to the photography itself. Photography was a chemical invention, and its core is the transformation of matter by the exposure of emulsion and the image being fixed. When I thought again of this essence of the medium, I decided to focus on the chemical phenomena and presence of material that are the basis of photography.”
The main subject is the materiality of photography, so he says that he aims to remove any form of intentional control, such as calculating the temperature of heat development or the time of film exposure. He describes these processes as akin to cooking: “but it’s cooking without knowing what I am making. Like, what kind of taste will I get when I mix these spices and seasonings? It feels like an experiment. It’s fun.”
In this exhibition, Yokota is showing new work that he co-created with the 2.5-dimensional printing technology StareReap.
The title he decided on is ‘Alluvion’, which refers to new strata created by glaciers and rivers. “I have liked strata, fossils, and minerals since I was in school, and I used to go out to collect rocks. In my mind, photography is similar to minerals. They are both reactions between heat and materials. Photography is the outcome of chemical reactions of silver, and of various traces of adulterants like gelatin melting away in heat development, which reminds me of minerals. I have used words and phrases related to strata and rocks in the past, but the nuance of ‘new strata’ the Alluvion gives felt like it would match the newness of the StareReap technology.”
The exhibited works are new versions from a series he has continued to work on since 2012, using heat development. He layered about 100 sheets of 4x5 film (large format film sheets) that had not shot any subjects and put them through heat development. The films were then scanned digitally and StareReap expressed colors and thickness. “Photography is two-dimensional, but depth and shadow are recorded in it as visual information. I thought it was really interesting that the 2.5-dimensional printing technology of StareReap added thickness,” he said, looking back at the production process.
“I imagine that the technology assumes a sense of three-dimensionality from the images and creates levels through its complex algorithms. However, it may not be an accurate thickness, but rather a thickness by assumption or imagination. So, it is not simply replication but a completely distinct expression, an act of disassembling photography, changing a complete system into something incomplete. Photography, in the first place, has recording and replication as its nature and purpose, and in the case of photographic expression – especially printing – it has not broken out of that framework. Using StareReap, I think there might be a discovery of a new way of forming photographic expression, and a way of thinking about photography that is different from ‘recording and replication.’”
At Yokota’s atelier. He sometimes takes digital photographs and then edits, prints and duplicates them to be shot in film and heat developed.
At Yokota’s atelier. He sometimes takes digital photographs and then edits, prints and duplicates them to be shot in film and heat developed.
Deformed and discolored film used in previous work. Yokota layers dozens of color and monochrome films and processes them to use the traces of reactions as motifs in his work.
Deformed and discolored film used in previous work. Yokota layers dozens of color and monochrome films and processes them to use the traces of reactions as motifs in his work.
One of the pieces from this exhibition. Heat developed film has been scanned as flat as possible, with expressions of color and thickness added by StareReap.
One of the pieces from this exhibition. Heat developed film has been scanned as flat as possible, with expressions of color and thickness added by StareReap.
“In photographic expression, printing has not been able to break away from the framework of replication. StareReap is interesting in that it establishes an opportunity for humans to interfere with the process of printing.”
“In photographic expression, printing has not been able to break away from the framework of replication. StareReap is interesting in that it establishes an opportunity for humans to interfere with the process of printing.”
＜Profile＞
Daisuke Yokota
Born in Saitama, 1983. Graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute. In 2008 his work was selected as an honorable mention in The New Cosmos of Photography, and he was awarded the 2nd ‘1_WALL’ Photography Grand Prix in 2010. He also received the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2016 and the 45th Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2019. He has published numerous photobooks in Japan and abroad, including ‘Tarachine’ (Session Press, 2015), ‘VERTIGO’ (Newfave, 2014), and ‘MATTER/BURN OUT’ (artbeat Publisher、2016). His major solo and group exhibitions include ‘Site / Cloud’ (2014), ‘Matter’ (Foam Photography Museum, 2017), ‘SHAPE OF LIGHT’ (Tate Modern, 2018), ‘Painting the Night’ (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2018-2019) and ‘Photographs’ (rin art association, 2021).
Daisuke Yokota
Born in Saitama, 1983. Graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute. In 2008 his work was selected as an honorable mention in The New Cosmos of Photography, and he was awarded the 2nd ‘1_WALL’ Photography Grand Prix in 2010. He also received the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2016 and the 45th Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2019. He has published numerous photobooks in Japan and abroad, including ‘Tarachine’ (Session Press, 2015), ‘VERTIGO’ (Newfave, 2014), and ‘MATTER/BURN OUT’ (artbeat Publisher、2016). His major solo and group exhibitions include ‘Site / Cloud’ (2014), ‘Matter’ (Foam Photography Museum, 2017), ‘SHAPE OF LIGHT’ (Tate Modern, 2018), ‘Painting the Night’ (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2018-2019) and ‘Photographs’ (rin art association, 2021).
＜Profile＞
Daisuke Yokota
Born in Saitama, 1983. Graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute. In 2008 his work was selected as an honorable mention in The New Cosmos of Photography, and he was awarded the 2nd ‘1_WALL’ Photography Grand Prix in 2010. He also received the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2016 and the 45th Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2019. He has published numerous photobooks in Japan and abroad, including ‘Tarachine’ (Session Press, 2015), ‘VERTIGO’ (Newfave, 2014), and ‘MATTER/BURN OUT’ (artbeat Publisher、2016). His major solo and group exhibitions include ‘Site / Cloud’ (2014), ‘Matter’ (Foam Photography Museum, 2017), ‘SHAPE OF LIGHT’ (Tate Modern, 2018), ‘Painting the Night’ (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2018-2019) and ‘Photographs’ (rin art association, 2021).
Daisuke Yokota
Born in Saitama, 1983. Graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute. In 2008 his work was selected as an honorable mention in The New Cosmos of Photography, and he was awarded the 2nd ‘1_WALL’ Photography Grand Prix in 2010. He also received the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2016 and the 45th Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2019. He has published numerous photobooks in Japan and abroad, including ‘Tarachine’ (Session Press, 2015), ‘VERTIGO’ (Newfave, 2014), and ‘MATTER/BURN OUT’ (artbeat Publisher、2016). His major solo and group exhibitions include ‘Site / Cloud’ (2014), ‘Matter’ (Foam Photography Museum, 2017), ‘SHAPE OF LIGHT’ (Tate Modern, 2018), ‘Painting the Night’ (Centre Pompidou-Metz, 2018-2019) and ‘Photographs’ (rin art association, 2021).