About the Exhibition

Suzuki Kiyoshi (1943–2000) is known as a photographer who never ceased exploring, in his own unique style, the possibilities of the medium called photography books. In his thirty-year career starting at the end of the 1960s, Suzuki compiled eight books, many of which were designed and bound by the photographer himself.

“Book” is an important keyword in reviewing Suzuki’s works. He was a book lover and often drew inspiration for his photography from his favorite books. Moreover, all of his photographic collections deserve to be called elaborate “books.”

Using motifs such as places related to his origin in a coal town, contemporary society, time on travel and literary works, Suzuki created a multilayered world where reality before our eyes, dreams and remembrance interwove each other. His collections achieved the extraordinary depth worth repeated close reading.

In addition to presenting pieces taken from his eight photo books including Soul and Soul (1972), Mind Games (1982) and S Street Shuffle (1988), this exhibition tries to obtain an overall picture of the world of Suzuki’s photography by illustrating the handwork-based creation process unique to Suzuki with dummy books and hand-drawn plans for his solo shows.