Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Unnatural Habitat Closes Soon in New York

The extraordinary vision of Hiroshi Sugimoto unfolds across the galleries of Lisson New York in an exhibition that traces five decades of artistic dialogue between the celebrated photographer and the city that fundamentally shaped his aesthetic sensibility. ‘Unnatural Habitat’ represents the artist’s third solo presentation at the gallery, a milestone testament to an enduring creative partnership that continues to yield revelations and innovations in photographic practice.

Drawing upon Sugimoto’s legendary ‘Diorama’ series, the exhibition presents a carefully considered selection of works that interrogate the nature of perception, the seduction of artifice, and the immersive power of pictorial depth. Among the extraordinary elements on display are photographs created through privileged access to the American Museum of Natural History, alongside recently rediscovered negatives that have been enlarged for the first time, offering fresh perspectives on the artist’s long standing investigation of natural history museums as repositories of theatrical illusion.

A particular highlight emerges in the introduction of four new colour diorama photographs, each rendered as folding screens in the traditional Japanese byōbu format. Printed upon washi paper through the exquisite craftsmanship of Kyoto artisans, these works represent only the second major foray into colour within Sugimoto’s photographic oeuvre, following his celebrated ‘Opticks’ series. The decision to present these photographs as sculptural objects rather than framed images extends the very language of photography itself, transforming the medium into something altogether more expansive and spatially immersive.

The installation unites photographic and sculptural forms in a manner that challenges conventional understandings of both disciplines. Through meticulous composition and masterful technical execution, Sugimoto continues to explore the threshold between representation and reality, between the constructed and the authentic. His dioramas, those carefully choreographed museum tableaux, become vehicles for philosophical inquiry into how we perceive and construct meaning from the world around us.

This deeply rewarding exhibition closes on 24 October at Lisson’s distinguished West 24th Street location in New York, offering a final opportunity to experience one of contemporary photography’s most intellectually rigorous and visually transcendent bodies of work.

Imagery courtesy of Lisson Gallery (@lisson_gallery).