New Portfolios
Statement
Prints
Books
News
Links
Contact
Bio
*New Shows*
"Ideology in Paradise" published by Mado-sha, Japan - ISBN978-4-89625-091-6
Available in US from 
日本語
"In fact, the experience of looking at Hiroshi Watanabe’s images is eerily like stepping into a Social Realist painting: the ruddy-cheeked young girl playing the accordion, the traditional gowns in brilliant pinks and greens of dancers swirling beneath the omnipresent image of the dear leader and the DPRK flag. One is quietly lulled into the sense that life in North Korea might, in fact, be just as it appears within the frames of these images—normal—instead of like the stories of kidnappings, military posturing, and famine. To Watanabe, it is this sense of tension between the news stories flooding the media in both Japan and in the U.S. and his experiences traveling and photographing—under careful surveillance of his two guides and assigned driver—that interests him in this topic. The results, engaging, yet still mysterious, bring us one side of this closed-off place, introducing us to a vibrant, compelling set of individuals, but still leave us to wonder."
Lesley A. Martin, Aperture Book Program
Announcement
"Ideology in Paradise" has received First Prize of Center's 2008 Project Competition. Please click the Center Logo for announcement and more. http://www.visitcenter.org/programs.cfm?p=Project08Watanabe
"Ideology in Paradise" was chosen as Aperture Portfolio Pick in the summer 2006 review. Please click the Aperture Logo for more.
As a result of Critical Mass Book Award of 2005, Photolucida has published a hardbound monograph, FINDINGS.
"These are honest and direct pictures; they bear a heavy silence, and are uncomplicated, singular ideas. These words invite a closer look uncompromised by time. They suggest a meditation that can bring to the surface what could otherwise have remained hidden - that opening in the sky beyond the child and his maze, and what it can mean."
Anthony Bannon, George Eastman House Director
日本語
I See Angels Every Day
"This Watanabe's collection of photographs is not only to look at but also it is a book that you are looked at by the book. I would definitely give him my moral support." ---- Eikoh Hosoe
Seeing Ourselves:
Masterpieces of American Photography from George Eastman House Collection - "Vietnam War Memorial, Washington DC" is included in the new traveling exhibition of George Eastman House and the exhibition is scheduled through 2010. View Details • View PDF
"In the present image conscious world in which we live, it is rare to see the portrait subject unaffected by the camera's presence. Many subjects are all too willing to put on the "mask" and to elude the documentarian's task of capturing something that is relevant as well as "accurate," faithful to a semblance of reality. Watanabe's portrait made in Ecuador is as strong as any I can recall being shown or published recently. This image lives up to the legacy left to us by such photographers as August Sander and Walker Evans."
James Crump, Arena Editions
"Most people who take photograph of their travels tend to concentrate on favorite landmarks or familiar costumes that are easily identified. In contrast the joy of Hiroshi Watanabe’s work is his capacity of finding imagery that intoxicates the senses and soothes beleaguered eyes. No matter the physical location or culture visited, he possess the ability to find meditative power places, as if expected."”
Charles Biasiny-Rivera, En Foco
“Watanabe’s small portraits of Kabuki performers in the gallery’s Red Room are even more seductive. Thirty of these subtly toned black-and-white images--busts, profiles, and several rear views of very young actors in some of Japan’s amateur companies--are hung in grids on the blood-red walls. Photographed back-stage between performances, Watanabe’s subjects present masklike but hardly inexpressive faces to the camera, and their combination of distracted self-consciousness and defiant self-possession is hard to resist.”
NEW YORKER, on the show at Bonni Benrubi Gallery
HIROSHI WATANABE
8810 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Tel: (310)859-0333
Email:contact@hiroshiwatanabe.com
Copy Right (c) Hiroshi Watanabe All Rights Reserved
Last Update: 06/06/2009
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New Portfolios |
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Prints |
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Books |
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News |
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Links |
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Contact |
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Bio |
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*New Shows* |
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| "Ideology in Paradise" published by Mado-sha, Japan - ISBN978-4-89625-091-6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Available in US from |
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| 日本語 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "In fact, the experience of looking at Hiroshi Watanabe’s images is eerily like stepping into a Social Realist painting: the ruddy-cheeked young girl playing the accordion, the traditional gowns in brilliant pinks and greens of dancers swirling beneath the omnipresent image of the dear leader and the DPRK flag. One is quietly lulled into the sense that life in North Korea might, in fact, be just as it appears within the frames of these images—normal—instead of like the stories of kidnappings, military posturing, and famine. To Watanabe, it is this sense of tension between the news stories flooding the media in both Japan and in the U.S. and his experiences traveling and photographing—under careful surveillance of his two guides and assigned driver—that interests him in this topic. The results, engaging, yet still mysterious, bring us one side of this closed-off place, introducing us to a vibrant, compelling set of individuals, but still leave us to wonder." Lesley A. Martin, Aperture Book Program |
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|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announcement |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Ideology in Paradise" has received First Prize of Center's 2008 Project Competition. Please click the Center Logo for announcement and more. http://www.visitcenter.org/programs.cfm?p=Project08Watanabe |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Ideology in Paradise" was chosen as Aperture Portfolio Pick in the summer 2006 review. Please click the Aperture Logo for more. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As a result of Critical Mass Book Award of 2005, Photolucida has published a hardbound monograph, FINDINGS. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "These are honest and direct pictures; they bear a heavy silence, and are uncomplicated, singular ideas. These words invite a closer look uncompromised by time. They suggest a meditation that can bring to the surface what could otherwise have remained hidden - that opening in the sky beyond the child and his maze, and what it can mean." Anthony Bannon, George Eastman House Director |
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| 日本語 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I See Angels Every Day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This Watanabe's collection of photographs is not only to look at but also it is a book that you are looked at by the book. I would definitely give him my moral support." ---- Eikoh Hosoe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seeing Ourselves: Masterpieces of American Photography from George Eastman House Collection - "Vietnam War Memorial, Washington DC" is included in the new traveling exhibition of George Eastman House and the exhibition is scheduled through 2010. View Details • View PDF |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "In the present image conscious world in which we live, it is rare to see the portrait subject unaffected by the camera's presence. Many subjects are all too willing to put on the "mask" and to elude the documentarian's task of capturing something that is relevant as well as "accurate," faithful to a semblance of reality. Watanabe's portrait made in Ecuador is as strong as any I can recall being shown or published recently. This image lives up to the legacy left to us by such photographers as August Sander and Walker Evans." James Crump, Arena Editions |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Most people who take photograph of their travels tend to concentrate on favorite landmarks or familiar costumes that are easily identified. In contrast the joy of Hiroshi Watanabe’s work is his capacity of finding imagery that intoxicates the senses and soothes beleaguered eyes. No matter the physical location or culture visited, he possess the ability to find meditative power places, as if expected."” Charles Biasiny-Rivera, En Foco |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “Watanabe’s small portraits of Kabuki performers in the gallery’s Red Room are even more seductive. Thirty of these subtly toned black-and-white images--busts, profiles, and several rear views of very young actors in some of Japan’s amateur companies--are hung in grids on the blood-red walls. Photographed back-stage between performances, Watanabe’s subjects present masklike but hardly inexpressive faces to the camera, and their combination of distracted self-consciousness and defiant self-possession is hard to resist.” NEW YORKER, on the show at Bonni Benrubi Gallery |
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HIROSHI WATANABE
8810 Melrose Avenue West Hollywood, CA 90069 Tel: (310)859-0333 Email:contact@hiroshiwatanabe.com |
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| Last Update: 06/06/2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||