Hiroaki Hamada: Photography

Hiroaki Hamada is a print artist with a career spanning three decades. However, he is not confined to the print medium; last year,  a drawing of his was selected at the exhibition “The Expressive Power of the Line” held at the Museum of Osaka University’s Machikaneyama Shugakukan hall.  And featured here for the first time is an exhibition of his photographic works. Originally Hamada’s prints were all based upon photographs that he had taken himself.

One beautiful day when the cherry blossoms were in their full glory, I visited Mr. Hamada’s home upon his invitation. A small black-and-white photograph displayed at the entrance became the inspiration for the current exhibit. Seeing the image captured by Hamada himself, it was as if my heart was quietly  pierced by an artist’s blade. These photographs exude the sense of images already sharpened by Hamada’s hand— they certainly held their own as photographic works.

Hamada does not see photography as his principal field, but rather as an intermediate, experimental phase in printmaking . Yet by showcasing these photographs, one can feel a special kind of enjoyment akin to gaining analytical insight into the artist himself. We hope that as many as possible can come experience the quiet yet strong flow emanating from Hamada’s work.