Yukiko Shimizu
Profile
写真家としての原点は、幼少期に目にした祖父の姿にあります。祖父は写真館を建てるほど写真を深く愛し、世界各地を旅して撮影に取り組んでいました。その背中を見て育った経験が、自然とカメラを手に取るきっかけとなりました。
ニューヨークのParsons School for Designで写真を専攻し、The Center for Alternative Photographyでは19世紀の写真技法を修得しました。さらにSchool of Visual ArtsのPhotography Residency Programに参加し、多様な視点と表現手法を取り入れてきました。
音楽分野では、UCLA付属校でコンピューターミュージックを学び、Berklee College of MusicにてProfessional Songwriting Certificate Programを修了。ニューヨーク大学（NYU）のInteractive Telecommunications Program（ITP）では、映像と音楽を融合したインタラクティブ作品の制作に携わり、視覚と聴覚を横断する表現の可能性を追求しました。
展覧会歴としては、東京アメリカンクラブ、東美アートフェア 永善堂画廊、銀座靖山画廊、心斎橋大丸美術画廊、日本写真学院における個展のほか、渋谷西武美術画廊、国立新美術館、東京都美術館、The Center for Fine Art Photography、Soho Photo Galleryなど、国内外のグループ展に多数参加。近年は、パリ、ドバイ、台北でのアートフェアや、ロンドン・マルギャラリー、パリのユネスコ本部国際平和美術展、ウィーン・シェーンブルン宮殿での展覧会など国際的な活動も展開し、上野の森美術館「日本の美術展」では元サザビーズ日本代表・柴山哲治氏による賞を受賞しました。
海外で暮らしていた頃、日本に残した家族への想いが私の作品の原動力となりました。祖父のレンズ越しの静けさを思い出しながら、かけがえのない瞬間や目に見えない感情を写真に収めようと努めてきました。
美しい庭園づくりに情熱を注いでいた母方の祖父が他界したことをきっかけに、大切な存在が消えてしまうことへの深い虚無感とともに、自然の中に潜む神秘的な美しさや、そこに宿る記憶や物語に強く惹かれるようになりました。それ以来、目に見える風景を超え、五感や感情を通して「感じる世界」を表現することを目指して行ければと思いました。
ハッセルブラッドによる中判フィルムや35mmフィルム、白黒赤外線カメラ、さらには古典的な写真技法を用い、長時間露光によって自然と静寂の中に立ち現れる一期一会の光景を記録してきました。近年はフィルムとデジタル問わず、静寂とともに生まれる一期一会の作品を残して行ければと思います。
The origin of my career as a photographer lies in the figure of my grandfather that I saw in my childhood. He loved photography so deeply that he built his own studio and traveled around the world to pursue his work. Growing up watching his dedication naturally led me to pick up a camera myself.
I studied photography at Parsons School for Design in New York and learned 19th-century photographic processes at The Center for Alternative Photography. I further participated in the Photography Residency Program at the School of Visual Arts, where I engaged with diverse perspectives and methods of expression.
In the field of music, I studied computer music at UCLA Extension, completed the Professional Songwriting Certificate Program at Berklee College of Music, and at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), I worked on creating interactive works that combined image and sound, exploring the possibilities of expression that cross the boundaries of sight and hearing.
My exhibition history includes solo shows at Tokyo American Club, the Tobi Art Fair (Eizendo Gallery), Ginza Seizan Gallery, Daimaru Shinsaibashi Art Gallery, and the Japan Institute of Photography and Film, as well as group exhibitions at Seibu Shibuya Art Gallery, The National Art Center Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, The Center for Fine Art Photography, and Soho Photo Gallery. In recent years, I have also participated in international activities such as art fairs in Paris, Dubai, and Taipei, the Mall Galleries in London, the International Peace Art Exhibition at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and exhibitions at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. At the “Art of Japan” exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum, I was honored with an award presented by Tetsuji Shibayama, former representative of Sotheby’s Japan.
During my years living abroad, the longing I felt for my family in Japan became a vital source of inspiration for my work. Recalling the quiet gaze of my grandfather through his lens, I have continued to strive to capture irreplaceable moments and unseen emotions in my photographs.
The passing of my maternal grandfather, who had devoted himself to the creation of beautiful gardens, gave rise to a profound sense of emptiness at the loss of an irreplaceable presence. Since then, I have been strongly drawn to the mysterious beauty inherent in nature, as well as the memories and stories that reside within it. From that point, my aim has been to move beyond visible landscapes and to express a world that can be “felt” through the senses and emotions.
My work has employed Hasselblad medium-format cameras, 35mm film, black-and-white infrared cameras, and classical photographic techniques to capture once-in-a-lifetime scenes emerging from silence through long exposures. In recent years, whether using film or digital cameras, I continue to create works that embody these unrepeatable encounters with silence abide in.
Gallery
