Hiroshi Sugimoto: fading memory

I was first introduced to Hiroshi Sugimoto's work last semester in my Basic Photo class. I looked him up after class that night and was captivated by his soft dreamy images - many of which are intentionally out of focus. To me, they evoke strong emotions related to memory - sadness and nostalgia combined with the struggle to remember important times and places. The blurriness of the photos reminds me of how memory is not factual, rather, it is our attempt to record and retrieve experiences.


Sugimoto's work is very much about the passage of time. He created a series of photos in beautiful old theaters where he left the camera shutter open throughout the duration of a film. The result is a white screen which casts a soft light across the empty theater. These images make me feel a little sad - they make me think of lost time and of lost memories...of watching a story of your life and not remembering parts.