[+ About Me]
[fade]“A shutter makes up half of a photograph, nurturing it completes the rest.”[/fade]
( 2 0 1 7 - Yugo Ito ）
Daguerrreotype self-portrait (2018)
We kindly ask you to refrain from using his particular coined words, phrases and retronym such as “Physical Photography”, “Physical Linkage”, “Materialism”, “熟成写真（Matured photograph）” and “写真は、撮って半分、育てて半分（A shutter makes up half of a photograph, nurturing it completes the rest.）” etc. related to his whole work on this website and his photography services organised at his photo studio without his permission.
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Yugo Ito
I was born in Tsushima City, Aichi, Japan, in 1991, and grew up as the 4th generation of a family-owned photo studio.
I have mainly taken Daguerreotype, Wet plate collodion process and hand-made Dry plate collodion process photographs. I named these non-digital photographic processes including films and prints “Physical Photography” as a new retronym of “Digital Photography” in 2015. I define it by the following four points: Non-digital photographs physically exist along with us, physically age, physically show the beauty of its ageing processes and physically stimulate four of our five senses, except for the sense of taste. For more details of his philosophy of photography, please refer to his artist statement “The History Story of Photography”.
Summary of my artist statement “The History Story of Photography”
People now take pictures without considering how to keep. Many digital photos were lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake. Everything was swept away by the tsunami. But those physical prints, films and albums were rescued by the victims and innumerable volunteers in the earthquake-affected areas, unlike digital counterparts. I myself also lost so many digital photos taken by mobile phones during 2000〜2010. It’s just because my mobile phones are broken that I can’t see those digital photos forever. Although, we take photographs because we want to keep those memories forever. That’s ironic. I look back on the old days and calls it “the dark age” in photography culture. And I insist that we are still living in the dark age and most of us don’t notice it. It is easy to take digital photos yet it is difficult to keep them. But we even believe that our digital photos will remain forever. In the age of physical photography, we didn’t need to think about how to keep a photo that much. Because all photographs physically existed. But now, we need to think more about how to keep a photo, not to take a photo. Otherwise, our careless attitude creates the next tragedy again, even in the next generations. It's been around 30 years since digital photography was invented and I was born exactly 30 years ago. He deplores “When will the relationship between people and photography get better? ”.
One year later after the Great East Japan Earthquake, my grandmother passed away. I felt the power of photography very deeply again. She left many physical photographs to us. I focused on what differences are between digital photos and non-digital photos. And I found the following answer to the question: Digital photos do not age, as physical photos do. Physical photographs let us feel the beauty of the passage of time. Our images in physical photographs beautifully age. We don’t need to live forever, it’s enough that we live for others. We all live for the next. These are what I felt from his grandmother’s physical photographs. I was able to accept my grandmother's death in this positive way while the non-digital photographs express the passage of time and the law of nature in a providential way. I also concluded that our desire for immortality and oblivion terror should be the source of the invention of photography. And those two factors eventually lead to digital photography. We unconsciously believe in the immortality of digital photography, and which would be traces of our lives. Digital photos embody immortality as a substitute for our physical bodies. In other words, we entrust our eternal lives to our digital photos. However, Physical photographs show the beauty of the passage of time and let us recognise that we live in the law of nature. That’s very philosophical. From there on, we can see that physical photographs embody the eternal truth. But it is not new knowledge to us, homo sapiens, at all. We can find the same sapience in different languages, in various eras, especially in oriental philosophy.
With my strong conviction, the term “material” should be used to connect human beings with the environment(= the earth, even the space), I named the practice of my philosophy of photography “Materialism”. We need to redefine the existing term “materialism”. This term has been used in a negative sense. We like to separate ourselves from nature. But we are all made of materials. While digital photos were made from our desire for immortality as an individual, physical photos tell us the philosophic way of living along with the law of nature by showing its ageing processes. We are just temporal compositions made of materials. We don’t need to separate human beings from nature anymore.
“The History Story of Photography” I wrote down with 20,000words tell you deeper and more about how this Western technology embodies much Eastern philosophy.
Since 2016, I have started “Materialism” project. The aim is to build a new wholesome relationship between human beings and photography for our next generations. I want to make a change. Ideas must be substantiated into actions, not only into gallery walls. I was lucky to be born as the son of a photo studio owner and I've chosen this place to take action. In practice, I try to mediate between people and physical photography.
I built a large portable darkroom camera in Giroux Daguerreotype camera style in the photo studio. This darkroom camera is used for my new photography service. Customers not only get their Daguerreotype or Wet plate collodion process portrait photography taken by the darkroom camera itself but also see its developing processes inside the darkroom camera. And even more, they would be able to feel the philosophy of physical photography with the interior of the darkroom.
A new building is also under construction now. For more details of what I made and built for “Materialism” project, please refer to “Overview” and other gallery pages etc.
Although I mainly use my hand-made large format camera and analogue techniques such as Daguerreotype, Wet/Dry Plate collodion photography for my works, I also use a digital camera for my clients such as Airbnb, Recruit Marketing Partners CO., Ltd(JAPAN) etc. In addition, I do wedding photography too. In 2016, I was carried out “Around the world Honeymoon” with a Japanese couple.
《 Overview 》
The History Story of Photography 2. Comparison of the three Historical Photographic Processes
3. Camera Aurōra 4. Darkroom Camera in Giroux Daguerreotype Style etc.
- The History Story of Photography -
“HOW” “WHY” Do We Do Photography?
Since the day when people called daguerreotype photography "Mirror of Memory", our photographic culture seems to have evolved. In their eyes, to be able to take infinite photos by just pressing a button, in colour, must be magical.
Fast forward to modern days, people now take pictures without considering how to keep. Many digital photos were lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake. But those physical prints and films were left in the earthquake-affected area, unlike digital counterparts.
One year later, my grandmother passed away. I felt the power of photography very deeply. I was able to accept my grandmother's death in a positive way while photographs express the passage of time in a providential way.
Digital photos don't age in that way. It's meant to be an exact copy and stays the same if not corrupted. So in the end, only "Physical Photography" can pass the moment on to future generations, with the beauty of ageing through time and love. This practice has to be preserved and promoted. Something has to be done.
What I care, is to build a good relationship between photography and people. For that, I have to find the answer of “WHY" do we take photographs, but all we can find is the “HOW” in photography history.
Daguerreotype can’t be created out of randomness, neither is digital photo. The story of “WHY” we do photography have to be written down. Knowledge itself is not enough to move us, it's the story that always moves us. Isn't that what the "history of the HOW of humanity" says?
It's always a struggle that we want to capture and preserve those precious moments but it's difficult. It's been 30 years since digital photography was invented and I was born exactly 30 years ago. When will the relationship between people and photography gets better? I want to make a change. I was lucky to be born as the son of a photo studio owner and I've chosen this place to take action. In practice, I try to mediate between people and physical photography. "The story of photography" I wrote gets deeper about this "Western Technology" actually embodies much Eastern wisdom.
Thought Map (2012〜)
- Comparison of the three historical photographic processes -
(Shots of my photo studio)
- Camera Aurōra -
〈Camera Aurōra(rendering) 〉(2020〜)
With the horizontal coordinate system
A gallery for my work of all photographic processes from daguerreotype to digital photography and a darkroom for those historical photographic processes, daguerreotype and wet/dry plate collodion processes have been under construction. My customers will be enjoying the photographs chronologically in the tranquil gallery and the development in the luxurious darkroom in near future. I am going to finish the interior work in this building myself, therefore it will take a few more years to finish. I have experience of finishing interior work in my house. You can have a look at what it looks like on this page.
Numbers at the top right corner indicate the dates when daguerreotype(the first practical photographic process) was firstly announced to the public and the time when the centre of the Sun was at the horizon (elevation = 0 deg) on Jan 7th 1839, as seen from the Institut de France. The reason why I divided the sun half at the horizon is that there are serious problems to resolve in our modern photographic culture. The sun above the horizon is a symbol of the birth of photography. The sun underneath the horizon implies the problems. There are many dots on the wall, which are stars. It expresses Paris’s starry sky at 07:45 A.M. on Jan 7th 1839. I adopted Ophuichus to my wall design because it is one of the Ptolemaic constellations. Claudius Ptolemy is a prominent figure in the history of optics. And the mythology of Ophiuchus is very deeply related to “death” and “life”. These are the source of the invention of photography. That is why I included Ophiuchus in the design.
The idea of this building’s name “Camera Aurōra” came from “Camera Lucida” and “Camera Obscura”. These two words are very important and famous ones in photography history. In Latin, camera means “room” and aurōra means “dawn”. “Camera Aurōra” has a double meaning. One means literally the birth of photography, another one means re-building a new “wholesome relationship” between human beings and photography for our next generations. Because we are living in the dark age of photography right now. My artist statement “The History Story of Photography” I wrote down with 20,000 words describe this matter deeper. Please refer to the artist statement for more details.
- Darkroom Camera in Giroux Daguerreotype Style -
Darkroom Camera in Giroux Daguerreotype Style (2018-2019)
This is a 100% self-built darkroom camera in Giroux Daguerreotype style. Giroux Daguerreotype camera was the first commercially-produced camera in the world (1839, Paris). I spent two years building this darkroom camera. Literally, this darkroom camera is going to be in use as a camera and a darkroom. Daguerreotype, wet/dry plate collodion processes and film photography are available. After a photo session, my customer can get inside this camera and witness a moment of their image’s birth (= development process of their photograph.)
The interior was designed with various historical motifs related to “Life and Death”. This idea came from my following question, “If photography had been invented before the Industrial Revolution, how would have darkroom been designed? ”For more details, please refer to my artist statement “The History Story of Photography”.
Sample portrait of my Singaporean customers
(2019, Ito Photo Studio)
Process：Wet Plate Collodion Process
(With my handmade 8x10 camera)
〈Monochrome Photography Awards 〉
International Black and White Photography Contest
1st place winner of architecture photographer of the year 2018
Title： Man-made objects towering high to man-made heaven.
(2017, Shang hai, China)
Process： Dry Plate Collodion Process
(Non-factory produced)
Gyeongbokgung Palace (2017, Korea)
Process：Daguerreotype
(With my handmade 8x10 camera)
Handmade 8x10 camera
coated Japanese lacquer Urushi(2016)
Around the world honeymoon as an accompanying photographer（2016）
「Stitch up」(2014〜)
＊Thank you very much for reading through.
I will disclose a secret.
All my land/cityscape digital photos are not real moments.
You know what I mean?
I take tens/hundreds of shots in one composition,
and I stitch those shots up to one image on photoshop.
These moments are all created by me.
As you understand, “Stitch-up” has a double meaning here.
That has never been pointed out to me before.
Digital photography can deceive us this easily.
As a clue, I placed the same guy wearing a blue beanie at two spots in this image.
Visit my gallery of land/cityscape.
Except for square photos (These shots were taken by Hasseldblad + Phase One), all other digital photos in the gallery are stitched-up images.
-Main Work Experience-
2018-2019 Self-build Darkroom camera in Giroux Daguerreotype style
2017 The 2nd Dry Plate Collodion Process Shooting & Processing Workshop by MATERIALISM
Culture Garden, Seoul, Korea
2017 Wet Plate Collodion Process Shooting for Romantic Theatre <Tian Mi Mi>
Supported by Seoul Special Metropolitan City
2017 The 1st Dry Plate Collodion Process Shooting & Processing Workshop by MATERIALISM,
Mugyewon, Jungro Foundation for Arts & Culture, Seoul, Korea
2017 Wet Plate Collodion Process Shooting Event at the National Taekwondo Museum
during 2017 WTF WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP → HERE
2017 "Materialism" On-demand Alternative Photography Studio, Seoul, Korea / Architect & Photographer → HERE
2016 Around the World Honeymoon / Photographer → HERE
-Education-
2015 Postgraduate Diploma in Photography, LCC, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
2014 BA in Management, Faculty of Economic, Sophia University, Tokyo
-Awards- (21 Awards)
2020 Tokyo International Foto Awards Fine Art Book, Bronze (Professional), Dry Plate Collodion Photo Book
2020 Tokyo International Foto Awards Architecture, Honorable Mention (Professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2020 Tokyo International Foto Awards Portfolio, Honorable Mention (Professional), Self-Build Darkroom Camera
2020 Monochrome Awards Landscapes, Honorable Mention (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2019 Monochrome Awards Portrait, Honorable Mention (professional), Daguerreotype
2019 Monochrome Awards Portrait, Honorable Mention (professional), Wet Plate Collodion
2019 Monochrome Awards Portrait, Honorable Mention (professional), Wet Plate Collodion
2019 Monochrome Awards Architecture, Honorable Mention (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2018 Monochrome Awards Architecture, 1st Place Winner (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2018 Monochrome Awards Architecture, Honorable Mention (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2018 Monochrome Awards Architecture, Honorable Mention (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2017 Monochrome Awards Landscapes, Honorable Mention (professional), Dry Plate Collodion
2017 Monochrome Awards Landscapes, Honorable Mention (professional), Digital
2016 The Rendering The Spirit show (Alternative Photographic Process), United States, Twelve Selected Artists
2015 Thirty for Thirty, United Kingdom, Thirty Emerging Artists
2014 The 62nd Nikkor (Nikon) Photo Contest, Japan, 5th Prize in U-31 Division
2013 The 11th Japan Photography Association, Award of Excellence
2013 The 17th Japan General Photographic Exhibition, Two Awards of Excellence
2013 The Embassy of The Republic Of Korea in Japan, Photo Contest, Selected
2013 Hasselblad & The Embassy of Sweden in Japan, Innovation Photo Contest, Finalists
2012 The 64th Chunichi Photo Contest (Japanese Newspaper), Selected
-Published-
2015 Thirty for Thirty Art Book, United Kingdom
-Media-
2019 Mainichi Shimbun(Newspaper)//(URL)
2019 The Mid-Japan Economist(URL)
2019 Sankei Shimbun(Newspaper)//(URL)
2019 Asahi Shimbun(Newspaper)//(URL)
2016 DCPhotoArtist // RENDERING THE SPIRIT: INTERVIEW (URL)
2015 LCC Postgraduate Shows // Spotlight on (URL)
-Serial-
2015 Monthly Magazine of Chunichi Newspaper Photography Association, Japan
-Exhibitions- (6 galleries)
2018 Alice in the www “Who in the www am I?”,
Collaboration with my daguerreotype artwork, Sooho Gallery, BunDang-Gu, Korea
2017 The 2nd Modern Seoul&China Dryplate exhibition by MATERIALISM, Culture Garden, Seoul, Korea
2017 The 1st Modern Seoul Dryplate exhibition by MATERIALISM
Mugyewon, Jungro Foundation for Arts & Culture, Seoul, Korea
2016 Glen Echo Photoworks Gallery, Washington DC, United States
2015 Postgraduate Show, LCC, University of the Arts London, London, United Kingdom
2015 Camera Work, the Leyden Galley, London, United Kingdom
Thought Map _ Last Updated on December 11th, 2019
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