Yoshiyuki Okuyama "photographs"

Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film is pleased to present photographs, a solo exhibition of the work of Yoshiyuki Okuyama, on view from Friday, May 15 to Saturday, June 13.

The series began with the discovery of more than a hundred family albums at the house where Okuyama's grandparents and father once lived, and where he now has his studio. Turning through the pages, he found himself thinking about how each generation's choices had passed life on to the next generation, and about the ethical framework those choices implied. He also began to see that while these were lives that could be understood in the collective context of the family, each person had existed first as an individual, before any role within it was assigned.

In the photographs series, edited and brought to its final form by Okuyama, each figure in the original album photographs has been dissolved into a glow of light. The space this creates stirs the viewer's imagination, and what was once a single private family album becomes everyone's album, and ultimately something that can be universally shared.

The exhibition features approximately 28 works from a photographic series of the same title, made from Okuyama's family albums. A book accompanying the exhibition will be published.

Photo：Yoshiyuki Okuyama 'photographs #1', 2024/2026 Archival pigment print mounted on aluminum 216 x 171 cm  ©Yoshiyuki Okuyama  / Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film