CHAUSSEE 36 Photo Foundation is thrilled to present the solo exhibition “Tokyo is Yours” by the Australian photographer Meg Hewitt, featuring the artist’s work for the first time in Germany.
Meg Hewitt, born in 1973 in Sydney, Australia, studied sculpture, painting and media. Since 2010 she has dedicated herself to photography.
Meg Hewitt: Tokyo is Yours
- Press Preview: Friday, 17th November 2023, 10 AM
- Opening: Friday, 17th November 2023, 7.30 PM – 9.30 PM
- Duration: 18th Nov 2023 – 27th Jan 2024 / Wed – Sat, 1 PM – 6 PM
- Location: CHAUSSEE 36 PHOTO FOUNDATION, Chausseestr. 36, 10115 Berlin
In “Tokyo is Yours,” Meg Hewitt takes viewers on a mesmerizing journey through the lens of her camera, capturing the essence of Tokyo in a way that is uniquely hers. The exhibition presents a curated selection of Hewitt’s distinctive photographic works, each frame a testament to her keen eye for detail and her ability to encapsulate fleeting moments in the vibrant tapestry of Tokyo’s urban landscape.
“Tokyo is Yours“ is a black-and-white series that came into being between 2015 and 2017 during her travels through Tokyo.
The cycle shows Hewitt’s deep reflection on Japan and the uncertainties and fragility that followed after the catastrophe in Fukushima. The ecological disaster of 2011 almost led to the evacuation of Tokyo, a city with more than 13 million residents. The title “Tokyo is yours” derives from graffiti written on the city wall.
Meg Hewitt finds her inspiration in manga and movies. It is life in the streets of Tokyo that particularly interest her.
The scenes that Meg Hewitt embeds in her film have movie-like qualities. People converge, and odd situations appear and fade away again. Meg had travelled to Japan seven times between 2015 and 2017. Every day she would walk through the city for twelve hours, taking strolls through parks, stopping by at night bars and the animal park, and traveling to Fukushima or visiting the seafront. She captured the small details that spontaneously caught her interest and eternalized the habitants she encountered. The fact that she can neither speak and read Japanese nor understand conversations, gave her a feeling of absolute freedom and creativity. The people she met and the scenes she attended were transformed into symbols, archetypes, and metaphors. The photographer Daido Moriyama, whose work Meg Hewitt considers a source of inspiration, describes her photographs as “dangerous”.
Meg Hewitt explores the space between memories, interhuman relations, and fear with her photos.
She often photographs at night with flash, through which she can isolate her subject from any context. The utilization of silver film emphasizes the contrasting black tones during the development of the films. Through her special aesthetic, which creates an ominous compression of space, the photographs evoke a feeling of psychological pressure.
Her book Tokyo is Yours (first edition 2017, Nayana Press Verlag) is brilliant proof of the strong attraction that the absurd exerts on Hewitt.
Join us at CHAUSSÉE 36 Photo Foundation for an unforgettable visual experience as we delve into the soul of Tokyo through the lens of Meg Hewitt. “Tokyo is Yours” promises to be a journey of discovery, an exploration of the profound and the sublime, and an immersion into the unique perspective of an artist who has found beauty in the heartbeat of a city.
MORE INFO:
https://www.chaussee36.photography/news/opening-meg-hewitt-tokyo-is-yours
