Since 2002,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has held annual exhibitions
of contemporary photography, both to support the creative spirit
testing new expressive possibilities in photography and to introduce
contemporary photography and visual culture to photography lovers
and the general public. Each year, we hold a group exhibition of
contemporary, progressive photographers on a shared theme. The first
three exhibitions, based on the eternal themes of landscapes, happiness,
and flowers, introduced contemporary photographers and artists using
photography as a medium to reach a wider public. For the contemporary
photography exhibition in March, 2006, the tenth anniversary of the
museum's opening； we have chosen Private as the overarching
theme under which we explore contemporary photographic work from
a variety of perspectives. This exhibition addresses today's photography
scene-so often hived off into contemporary photography and contemporary
art or into high culture and subcultures-as a continuous whole in
an effort to present the zero decade to date (the first years of
the twenty-first century, from 2000 on) in a single exhibition.
We have selected fifteen photographers or groups from seven countries;
all are young or moderately well established photographers who have
distinguished themselves since 2000. The result will be an exhibition
that addresses new potential and new values in photographic images.
Depicting themselves, as evidence of their presence in the
specific settings of their lives, has been an important theme
for artists since the dawn of history. Today, artists continue
to explore and depict their present/presence. Such work may
resemble a diary of peaceful family life or a journey through
memory's mirror. Viewing these works, visitors will make their
own discoveries of the fragments of the everyday so easily
overlooked and their accumulated significance.
Jean-Paul
Brohez（１９５９年生まれ、ベルギー）
"for me ,the
joys of photography lie in the fact of being present,being
part of the world, of being alive,of seeing and sharing
the emotions it begets.
Antoine d'Agata （１９６１年生まれ、フランス）
"I don't care
how people photograph,I care why they photograph."
そめや・ありか（1961年生まれ、日本）
"No part exists
that is merely a part."
Elina Brotherus（1972年生まれ、フィンランド）
"I enjoy small,
every things;that I want to see-and to discover-beauty
from close to."
しおた・ちはる （１９７２年生まれ、日本）
"Where do
my memories come from? From DNA to DNA.I want to test
that dialogue."
Anni Emilia
Leppälä （１９８１年生まれ、フィンランド）
"In my pictures,attempts
in recognizing and lighting of obscure and vague movements,are
made visible."
With the arrival of the digital age and the penetration of
the Internet, making the self public has become extremely
easy-and the ease of making unintended self revelations has
also become an issue. Moreover, while much that is personal
is widely distributed, a countervailing tendency to be fixated
on making about highly anonymous connections or connecting
only with a highly restricted set of people-a phenomenon had
has been labeled "cell formation" by the individual-has also
emerged. How to replace personal themes with eternal themes-that
indeed is the most "contemporary" theme for all of us alive
today.
姜 愛蘭（１９６０年生まれ、韓国）
"Books symbolize
my identity."
Nicole Tran
Ba Vang（1963年生まれ、フランス）
"Nude is never
naked. We always are covered with the clothing of our
bodies."
Jaｃqueline
Hassink（1966年生まれ、オランダ）
"I wanted
to map, or portray, a corporation by photographing the
personal coffee cup of each employee."
はら・みきこ （1967年生まれ、日本）
"The feelings
that I must look and must not look instantly struggle
with each other."
Sarolta Szabó（1975年生まれ、ハンガリー）
The fear of
isolation and facelessness are all the concomitants of the life in the city that people dwelling in big cities or house states have to live with.
いけだ・まさのり（１９７８年生まれ、日本）
"To create a commemorative photograph style: that is my primary objective."
This part of the exhibition considers photography beyond the realms of photographic style and art,
in the broader realms of culture and daily life. photograpy is becoming less a specialized skill than, as an extension of the senses ,
a communication tool and visual symbol, sometimes adding richness to individuals'everyday worlds and sometimes unconsciously restricting it.
None of the artists whose work is included in this part of the exhibition self identify as "photographers".
They are not specialists in photography in the narrow sense and are unconscious of issues such as style and finished works of art;
they allow their curiosity free rein, to direct their eyes to the world before them and communicate with others in a manner that appears,
at least at first glance, playful. Photography still has great scope as a tool for transforming quotidian everyday life into an adventure.
second planet（1995年結成、アーティスト・ユニット、日本）
"I wish to rediscover landscapes others have found,exploring new rerationships between dissimilar events as well as separate contexts."
※終了しました
（1958年生まれ、日本）
"I wasn't trying to take great photographs. I just wanted to show how wonderful the love I had discovered was."
LOMOGRAPHY（1992年結成、オーストリアはじめ世界各地）
"What the hell is Lomography? powerful-Intense-Crazy-Tremendous-Unique-Raw-Exting-Sexy."
