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                                                                          

2024

Still Life in Trinidad, Soft Box Gallery (plan), Port of Spain / Trinidad & Tobago

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

Auberge Chimikepp Hotel

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