Keiichi Tahara

Japanese Photographer | Born: 1951 - Died: 2017

Tahara was born in Kyoto. He learned photographic techniques at an early age from his grandfather, a professional photographer.

In 1972, he travelled Europe with Red Buddha Theatre as a lighting and visual technician. While in France, he encountered a sharp, harsh and piercing light that he had never experienced in Japan. Since then, he remained in Paris for next 30 years and started his career as a photographer.

His first series of work "Ville (City)" (1973-1976) captured the unique light in Paris in black-and-white photography. His next series of work "Fen�tre (Windows)" (1973-1980) awarded the best new photographer by Arles International Photography Festival in 1977 and he moved into the limelight.The following year, he started the new series "Portrait" (1978), then "Eclat" (1979-1983) and "Polaroid" (1984) and received number of awards such as Ihei Kimura award (1985).

His morphological approach to light has extended to sculpture, installations, and other various method crossing over the genre of photography. In 1993, in moat of the Castle of Angers (1993), the first light sculpture in France, "Fighting the Dragon" (1993) was installed.

"Garden of Light" (Eniwa, Hokkaido, 1989) is a representative piece in which light sculptures are installed in a public space covered in snow for six months of the year. The light changes in response to music and presents a space of poetic dimensions. Based on the same concept, "�chos du Lumi�res" (2000) was installed in the Canal Saint-Martin, commissioned as a public space project by the City of Paris. The spectacle colors from the prisms illuminate the stone wall synchronizing with the sounds.

The rest of his work include a permanent outdoor installation "Niwa (Garden)" (2001) at the Photography Museum in Paris (Maison Europ�enne de la Photographie), "Portail de Lumi�re", an installation created as a part of the cultural project Lille 2004, and " Light Sculpture" exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum in 2004.

In 2008, Tahara lead the project of building Ginza 888, with the artistic direction of the Museum of Islamic Art. A photography book was published.

He continued to produce a number of light installation projects in urban spaces. He died on 6 June 2017.

Source: Wikipedia

Website:

www.keiichi-tahara.com

Selected Work:

Selected Book:

Keiichi Tahara: Architecture Fin-de-Si�cle

Author: Keiichi Tahara, Riichi Miyake

Publisher: TASCHEN

Year: 2017 - Pages: 966

At the turn of the 20th century, architecture took an imaginative leap. As new construction materials and technologies met such far-flung stimuli as the Far East, Nirvana, and the unleashed unconscious of Freudian psychoanalysis, buildings by the likes of Gaud�, Horta, Hoffmann, Loos, and Mackintosh instilled structure with the sinuous lines of nature, surfaces with a fairy-tale shimmer, and spaces with an ethereal wash of light or shadowy, mysterious hush.

For this dramatic portfolio, the late architectural photographer Keiichi Tahara travelled across Europe to present the finest examples of this Art Nouveau architecture. From the glamorous fa�ade of the Grand Hotel Europa to the elaborate sweep of a staircase or the perfect poise of a single chandelier, Tahara captures the intricate details as much as the holistic spatial effects of these ambitious, marvelous structures. With an eye attuned to the style�s organic detailing, he surveys its floral patterns, vine-like balustrades, and the soft, hollow interiors that seem to summon us into some primordial place.

Drenched in sunshine or draped in dramatic shadows, Tahara�s pictures excel in evoking not only the unrivaled aura of these buildings but also the particular, fin-de-si�cle spirit of their age, caught on the axel of a century, and characterized by reflection and yearning, as much as technological, philosophical, and political advance. Texts by Riichi Miyake accompany Tahara�s pictures to describe the buildings� floor plans, designs, and the broader context of their dreamlike environments.

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