The present show spotlights, for the first time, studies of architecture by 20th century masters, all photographed since 2000.

The main feature comprises two separate sets of images, those that include buildings by Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Gerrit Rietveld, Rem Koolhaas, Pierre Koenig, Arne Jacobsen and Alvaar Alto in the landscape, paired with collateral photographs shot from the buildings themselves. The program also includes other far-flung subjects, from photographer Julius Schulman in his studio to a consideration of McDonald’s − the ultimate contemporary totem of anonymous architecture.

Homma’s photographs of well-known buildings in their surroundings purposely circumvent the views that knowledge of the architecture would prompt us to anticipate. They eschew the conventional notions of what makes these works noteworthy. In releasing the audience from preconceived ideas about each building’s iconic status, he paradoxically creates a distinctive portraiture that lays bare the essential qualities of the architecture’s character.

The title, "Architectural Landscapes", suggests a dual understanding. On one hand there is the obvious implication that the landscape is identified by the architecture within it. There is also a corollary interpretation in which we are meant to identify with the architecture as a participant in its landscape.

Many of these buildings have served as the subject of photography since the medium itself was invented, impressing upon us their status as “immovable masterpieces”. These are works of art that have become known to civilization primarily by means of photography, which only makes the act of photographing them increasingly challenging. Surprisingly, photographers across the globe are currently willing to take up this challenge. The present exhibition exhorts the viewer to engage Homma’s method, approach, and aesthetic as his contribution to that discussion.

Original works from the show, including those from the catalogue “Architectural Landscapes”, which will be printed in a limited edition of 1000, will be available for purchase.

Artist's Profile

Takashi Homma

Born in Tokyo, 1962. Winner, in 1991, of the 24th Kimura Ihei photography award. Known in Japan and throughout the world as a pioneering figure of his generation in the field of photography, his books include "NEW WAVES", "TOKYO CHILDREN", "Tokyo and my Daughter", "KIWAMETE YOI FUUKEI" and many others.