Mitsuka UEMURA (1975-) is a Japanese Photographer and Lithprint artist, who tries to touch a faint light and a ray of hope. He started to teach himself photography, and he has been using the Lith Printing process since 2002. His work was exhibited in group and solo shows, in Japan, London, Lithuania and Trinidad & Tobago. He got his Master of Arts degree from International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 2012. In 2019, he received a ‘Letter of Appreciation’ from the Government of Lithuania for his efforts in promoting Japanese culture and for sharing the spirit of genuine photography art.
One of his uniqueness is his style of shooting that lets his work evolve as a collaboration with his subjects. In 2007, he released a family portrait series ‘Photo Studio Four Seasons’. By asking his subjects to hold an antique, and think of it as a symbol of family links with the past or the future, he tried to conjure the emotional bonds between them.
In 2009, he released a portrait and still-life series of ‘UNIVERSE’ in the concept that there exists a memory of the earth in humans and the object evokes their memory that a person has potentially.
In his recent works, he uses the Japanese nature as a main motif, and tries to capture the beauty as something temporary and unstable rather than eternally fixed. He also seeks to explore the unique aesthetic consciousness cultivated by the Japanese over centuries.
He is deeply attached to a long process of Lithprint to ripen one print, which also matures his love silently for the picture in a dark room.
EDUCATION
| International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Master of Arts (MA), December 2012 |
| The Japan External Trade Organization - Institute of Developing Economies Advanced School Post Graduate Diploma, July 2011 |
| Kobe University, Japan Bachelor of Arts (BA), March 2000 |
AWARDS
| ‘Letter of appreciation’ from the Government of the Republic of Lithuania March 2019, for the efforts in promotion of the Japanese culture in Lithuania and for sharing the spirit of genuine photography art |
| My Happiness Contest by Meiji Yasuda Seimei, Japan: Chosen June 2010 |
SOLO EXHIBITION
2023
| Lights in the Buddha, Soft Box Gallery, Port of Spain / Trinidad & Tobago |
2022
| Lights in the Buddha -Collaboration with Hanasaki Tokijo/jiutamai dancer-, Mubyoan, Tokyo |
| Candle Still Life, Gallery Camellia, Ginza, Tokyo |
| UNIVERSE AND OBJECT, Cluster Photography & Print 2022, Oxo Tower Wharf, London |
2019
| Photo Studio Four Seasons -Lithuania and Brazil-, Art Gallery Ishi, Ginza, Tokyo (Special event by ‘atelier-chataigne’) |
| Photo Studio Four Seasons, The Prime Minister’s Office, Vilnius-city, Lithuania |
| Photo Studio Four Seasons, Vytautas Magnus University Big Hall, Kaunas-city, Lithuania |
2009
| Universe, Antique shop ‘ethnica’, Yokohama, Japan |
2007
| Photo Studio Four Seasons, Gallery DAZZLE, Aoyama, Tokyo |
GROUP EXHIBITION
| 2014 |
| Present, Gallery Nadar, Tokyo, Japan |
2013
| Forest of Life: Special event by Pianist Sohichiroh Shigematsu, Gallery Monneporte, Nagasaki, Japan |
2006
| Dictionary, Sewing Gallery, Osaka, Japan |
COLLECTIONS
MAJOR PROJECT
| Shinto Project |
The project started from a request from a shrine maiden at Nishibori Hikawa Shrine, Saitama, Japan.
I took pictures of the Shinto rituals throughout the year, spiritual pace inside the shrine, various expressions of the shrine throughout the four seasons, the state of the ‘Ujiko’ who worship the same shrine and their family. Pictures were edited into an album and dedicated to the Nishibori Hikawa Shrine. |
THESIS AND REPORT
| Cambodian Youth in Cultural Reconstruction of the Khmer Traditional Arts (Master’s Thesis), International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), the Netherlands, December 2012 |
| Child Friendly Spaces: Mechanism, which believes in Japanese children’s resilience, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), the Netherlands, July 2012 |
MAJOR CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES AND PICTURES
| The Notebook of Photo Life, Kazumi Hayashi, PIE BOOKS, 2009 |
| LOVE LETTERS AT SIXTY -Wife to husband, husband to wife-, translated by Richard R.F. Ginies, NHK Publishing, 2004 |
| Wedding Photo of Life Style Artist Patrice Julien, CREA 2006, In Red 2007, Elle Marriage 2009, ROSALBA Wedding 2009 |
