The Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography

Today, I took a drive to the Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography.

Mr. Ueda's style of photography is generally monochromatic shots of pre-arranged subjects in stark landscapes such as beaches and sand dunes.

Many of his photos come off as a bit surreal, but still interesting. The first picture to bring him acclaim was "Four Postures of the Girl." A closer look:


The museum itself was built in that late-80's to mid-90's "Concrete Monolith" style. Huge grey slab-walls, with lots of disused walkways and steps, with the occasional reflecting pool. (This building was designed by the same architect who designed the "Symphony Gardens" building in Sakaiminato City, if you've ever seen it.) (Come to think of it, of my regular readers only Scott knows what I'm talking about...)

That's Mount Daisen in the distance, capped by clouds. (Sorry about the picture quality; there's only so much you can do with a cell-phone camera behind a picture window.)

One of the interesting things about this museum is the audio/visual room. In this little theater, they show a fifteen minute overview of camera technology and the career of Mr. Ueda. But, before they start, a shutter opens up above the screen, and you realize that you're sitting in what may very well be the largest camera obscura in the world. A seven meter wide image of Mount Daisen is projected on the back wall by a lens unit made up of five lenses, the largest of which is about two feet across. (focal distance: 8.4 meters, F-stop 32)

The museum's English pamphlet has this interesting paragraph:

Surrounded by a flood of visual images, people have become desensitized to the power of photographs. Too often people look only at what the visual image shows; they do not look beyond the image for a deeper meaning. Is what the photograph shows or what the photographer tries to inspire the only way to see the images?