Ittetsu Matsuoka "Something deeper, sharper, more dangerousー and irresistibly beautiful. Something out of the ordinary."

Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by Ittetsu Matsuoka from Saturday, September 6, to Saturday, October 11, 2025. This exhibition, his third at the gallery, will feature approximately 30 recent photographs, centered on those taken this year. These images reflect Matsuoka's long-standing photographic vision with even greater clarity and intensity.

Matsuoka is known for his work in the tradition of private photography, which takes the form of snapshots. Using his long-favored Olympus μ (mu) film camera, he produces images characterized by a consistently pale, muted color palette and a unique sense of suspension. His subjects are varied, including landscapes from his travels, people close to him, nudes, and abstract images created by chance through light leakage.

Photography, as a visual language, has the power to capture the world with clarity by precisely recording a single instant. Matsuoka, however, embraces blurred subjects, soft focus, unintended exposures, and other unexpected phenomena that occur on-site. In doing so, he keeps the contours of his images deliberately soft, offering glimpses of the world with a light touch rather than assigning fixed meanings. His photographs convey a gaze that affirms all things equally, whether in the spotlight or in shadow, reminding us that beauty can be found even in places we tend to overlook or leave outside the frame.

When we communicate with others by representing both the external world and our inner selves through linguistic signifiers, crucial nuances and peripheral meanings are lost in the process. Words, when too sharply defined, can cause harm. Through the nonverbal medium of photography, Matsuoka interprets the world from his own unique perspective, unraveling fixed ideas and values shaped by language, and revealing unfamiliar aspects of people and scenes.

Photo: Ittetsu Matsuoka, "bird", 2025, C-print © Ittetsu Matsuoka / Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film