Zen Foto Gallery is pleased to announce our first solo exhibition with Kouhei Hirose, “Yokushiroku” from August 10 to September 1, 2018. A photobook under the same title was published by Zen Foto in January, 2018 and about 20 pieces from this monochrome series, taken by Hirose between 2000 to 2017 will be exhibited.

“Yokushiroku” is Hirose’s attempt to capture the uncertainty of established reality in the city as he sees it. Through experimentation with chemicals during the printing process, Hirose adds an overlay of patterns and distractions to his well-observed street photographs, bringing out the nothingness beyond nothingness in our existence.

On August 10, the first day of the exhibition, a talk session will be held with Kouhei Hirose, photographer Osamu Kanemura and photo critic Kenji Takazawa.

In retrospect, I realize that even though I had traversed just a small part of my life, I judged things superficially or conveniently based on little knowledge and much anxiety. You must first realize that though you thought you were the one looking, you are the one being looked at. And then, once you accept the emptiness of the world, the future self that you are unknowingly turning your back on, the being without being, spreads out before your eyes.

ーKouhei Hirose

Artist Profile

Kouhei HIROSE

Born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, 1978, Hirose is currently based in Tokyo. He has been a participating member of TOTEM POLE PHOTO GALLERY in Shinjuku, Tokyo since 2014 and regularly holds a number of photo exhibitions both in Japan and abroad. Some of his works were acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

Publications & Prints