The work of New York–based Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto transcends the spatial boundaries of a single art form. He is best known for his minimal monochrome photography shot with a large-format camera. These intensely detailed images depict subjects ranging from seascapes and movie theaters to natural history dioramas. However, Sugimoto’s work is not confined to photographic expression. Architecture, art installations and theater direction all play a role in his four-decade-long meditation on the passage of time and interpretations of place. This is reflected in his recent work, Lost Human Genetic Archive. The antithesis of minimalism, the artwork charts the self-inflicted demise of humanity. It was first shown at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2014 and more recently at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Two Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 49 Karin Mamma Andersson Inside the moody, mysterious world of Sweden’s preeminent painter. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Amalie Smith The Danish arts writer finding clarity between the lines. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Studio Visit: Heidi Gustafson A cabin in the Cascade Mountains houses a hermetic artist—and her extraordinary world of natural pigments. Arts & Culture Issue 48 Jordan Casteel The acclaimed painter of people—and now plants. Arts & Culture Issue 48 The Art of Fashion On what artists’ clothes communicate. Arts & Culture Issue 48 All the Besties How to make work friendships work.
Arts & Culture Issue 49 Karin Mamma Andersson Inside the moody, mysterious world of Sweden’s preeminent painter.
Arts & Culture Issue 49 Studio Visit: Heidi Gustafson A cabin in the Cascade Mountains houses a hermetic artist—and her extraordinary world of natural pigments.