Hiroshi Sugimoto is currently showing two bodies of work at Hemphill Fine Arts.
The photographs from the “Drive-In Theater” series are long exposure shots of entire films caught on one still frame. Sugimoto closes down the iris of his large format camera and opens the shutter at the beginning of a film and releases it when the credits roll. The result in the still black and white photographs is a screen that glows white from light provided by the length of the motion picture. These images also operate as unique historic preservations of the nearly extinct outdoor cinema.
Originally I prepared to limit my post to the “Drive-In Theaters” series until I realized that Sugimoto’s portraits of the famous were taken in wax museums. The combination of these portfolios make for an interesting exhibit of the stars and where they are seen.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Drive-In Theaters & Portraits
8 November – 20 December 2008
Hemphill Fine Arts
Washington, DC
