If you have ever picked up a camera, you have most likely aimed the lens at the everyday objects around you. The act of taking pictures has become even more widespread with the shift from cameras to smartphones. Further-more, the rise of social media has caused an overflow of photographs of “Objects” across the globe. The word butsudori originally referred to the act of photographing products used in advertisements. However if we focus on the act of photographing objects, we realize that it is an important form of expression that has continued throughout the history of photography.
The exhibition is an effort to reframe photographic works that result from capturing objects by taking inspiration from the term butsudori, looking at one of the many facets of the rich photographic expressions in Japan.
This exhibition presents over 200 works, including original photographic negatives from the Meiji period designated as important cultural properties, photographs of cultural properties, still life, advertisements, and works by contemporary artists.
Butsudori is an act very close to us. Let’s take a look into its depths.