Naoya Hatakeyama

Naoya Hatakeyama is one of the most noteworthy contemporary Japanese photo artists. Related predominantly to architecture, his oeuvre has been shaped by almost archaeological rigor and interest. Hatakeyama's work encompasses a range of themes, from series devoted to limestone landscapes and architecture--his "Lime Work and Lime Hill (1987-1992), which are reminiscent at times of lunar landscapes or prehistoric scenes--to his "Under-ground series, in which the artist pursues urban tectonics in a vertical photographic progression from the air down into the depths of the city sewer system with its almost theatrical lighting effects. At the same time, his consistently serial works also reveal the presence of a horizontal principle as an expression of the importance of the aspect of time in his art--in highly explosive moments, for example, as in "Blasts (1995/96), photos of detonations in quarries, or in the urban tableaux conceived as extended-time studies in 48 or 72 parts in his "Unlimited series (1989-1997). One of the first monographs devoted to this artist, this book covers all of his serial work as well as some of his most recent projects.