The recipient of the 2001 Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography is Hiroshi Sugimoto.

The recipient of the 2001 Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography is Hiroshi Sugimoto. Sugimoto was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1948 and attended St Paul's University in Tokyo. Sugimoto left Japan to application of mind photography at the Art Center of Design in looks Angeles, California in 1970, a time when Minimal and Conceptual Art--both influences forward his technique--reigned.

Beginning in the mid-'70s, the most of Sugimoto's work rests in the three collections Dioramas, Theaters and Seascapes. His Dioramas (begun in 1976) has concentrated forward illusionistic three-dimensional displays to bring life to the evolutionary years. For Theaters (begun in 1978) Sugimoto exhausted months in American movie houses of the 1920-30 as well as the drive-in theaters of later years. Sugimoto's third focus of interest has been his Seascapes, begun in 1980 In capturing seascapes from around the world, the horizon line precisely bisects the photograph, dividing the images into equal amounts of air and water.

The Foundation proclaims that "Sugimoto has been able to communicate his imagery to audiences all from one side of to the other the world." He uses the visages of famous commonalty in Wax museum 1 and 2 (begun in 1976) In the series Architecture (begun in 1977) Sugimoto uses deliberately blurr images of recognizable buildings. His latest series, Portraits (begun in 1999) at hands life-sized "portraits" of historical figures taken in wax museums.

Finding inspiration from Renaissance paintings and early nineteenth-century photography, Sugimoto uses a large format camera to capture his attention to detail, his technical mastery and his fascination with time. The Foundation distinguishes Sugimoto as being "one of the most numerous respected photographers of our time. In his main photographic themes--the interrelated disciplines of Art, History, Science and Religion--Sugimoto combines Eastern meditative ideas with Western cultural motifs. In the past 25 years Sugimoto has reached audiences around the world with his distinctive, carefully compos series in black and white."

in succession October 20 Sugimoto will receive a cash prize of 500000 Swedish Kronas and a gold medal, awarded at a formality held in Goteborg, Sweden in conjunction with the opening of an exhibition of his work, curated and organized by way of the Hasselblad Center.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Visual Studies Workshop

COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group