ANDREA BLANCH. First, let me say, I'm honored to meet you. I love your work.. HIROSHI SUGIMOTO.
Thank you. ANDREA. So I'd like to start with your upcoming show at the Marian Goodman Gallery, Past
Presence. Can you tell me something about it? SUGIMOTO. Past Presence, yes. Now, at the beginning of
the 21st century, I wanted to review what the Modernism movement was in the 20th century. Almost 100
years later, we can see things easier and understand. I just wanted to focus on the famous, established
painters' and sculptors' masterpieces through this series, using the large format camera, 8 by 10, black and
white, intentionally out of focus to make it blur. It's like dreamy visions. I feel it's a more precise way to show
the concept of visions—I can see it even better, even clearer out of focus. This is a continuous technique
that started from my Architecture series when MOCA commissioned me to photograph the masterpieces
of 20th-century architecture. It's closer to the original visions that the architects conceived even before the
buildings were built. I used this same, out-of-focus technique in 1997.ANDREA. When I first saw the The-
aters series, it had such an effect on me. The white light was so striking and so blinding. I’ve read that you
deal with concepts of life and death in your work. How do you think your audience reacts to or interprets
your use of light? SUGIMOTO. It's a light from the afterlife. Without knowing about how these images were
made, people react to it. When light is coming out from some small space, it's very abstract in a way—kind
of suggesting a religious kind of vision. ANDREA. Similar to when you die, you go into the light. Then I
found out how you did it, the technique you used, which is even more impressive. I wanted to know—did
you choose the movies before you chose the architecture? SUGIMOTO. When I started in 1976, I didn't
have the power to choose the movie. I just stepped into the theater. In the very early stages, I didn’t even
get permission to go in. I just exposed whatever was being shown there, the feature film. ANDREA. And
where did you get that inspiration for that? To leave the shutter open for that long? SUGIMOTO. One night,
this came out of my noodle. I just envisioned it. What if I exposed the entire film? The answer is just light
coming out from the movie screen. I always envision some image first, and then I go out to find it. To prove
it, I have to make a photo, manifesting my original vision. ANDREA. You're very experimental. Do you ever
think about experimenting with digital cameras? SUGIMOTO. Digital? I was lucky that I was born before
the digital time. It makes everything so easy. But my effort in the 1970s was totally different. So now I can
use a digital camera, of course. But why bother? I can do it even better in analog, especially black and
white. ANDREA. Why do you always shoot in black and white? SUGIMOTO. Black-and-white has beauti-
ful tonality, from pitch black to white white. So many different nuances and grayscales. It's an uncomfort-
able state of clarity. To me, it's more challenging than color film. Now finally, I'm working a little with color
using digital. Color is closer to reality, but black-and-white is more technically challenging. Very few other
people work in black and white, so I think it's worth keeping this technique alive for the next generation.
ANDREA. You studied philosophy and sociology—what brought you to the arts and to the United States?
SUGIMOTO. I was a very good self-trained photographer, aside from my study of philosophy. Without any
very strong intention of leaving Japan for America, it just happened. My parents said, "You do whatever you
want to do." My family had a business, and my parents probably worried that “this kid is not good for the
family business.” My younger brother was serious enough, I wasn't so serious. ANDREA. But then you
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