Tokihiro Sato

Tokihiro Sato is a Japanese photographer. He works a lot on light drawings. This is where the artist uses light in a dark environment to make something new that would not usually look that way. They can also use the light to draw in the air. Sato was originally trained as a sculptor, he later turned to photography to explore light and space. Sato uses a darkening filter to lengthen his exposures which usually last from one to three hours. When shooting outside during the day he uses a mirror to reflect the sunlight into the camera. When shooting inside or at night he uses a small flashlight to shine light into the camera. Not only is Sato an artist he is also a professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.  

The piece I chose of Sato’s to look at is #352 Kashimagawa, 1998. This piece is from his show “Presence or Absence: The Photographs of Tokihiro Sato”. This is a series of light drawings. I chose this piece because I really like it. He is able to make the light look like it goes back forever, and every light is bright enough to see clearly. At first it looked like he was somehow able to capture lightning bugs flying away. However, because of how sharp and bright every light is that is not likely, also because the lights are stagnant during this long exposure. If they were lightning bugs, they would be dull lines moving around because of the lightning bugs flying around. I also like how much detail he got in the trees. He was able to turn what would have been a bland landscape into something that looks like it came out of a dream.