Biography

Biography of Yukihito MASUURA

Resident of Osaka
Photographer
President of office MASUURA Inc.

Yukihito Masuura

Born in Tokyo in 1963, Masuura began his career as a photographer in 1981 when he transferred to Paris. There, he mastered the essence of photography as an assistant of Guy Bourdin, a famous photographer for VOGUE PARIS magazine. After that, he came across Aristide Maillol’s sculptural works and acquired his own view while photographing them.

Maillol taught him how to grasp objects expressed in light and shadow, and how to enjoy replacing three-dimensional art with two-dimension. The method of capturing the beauty of sculpture through photography has evolved with the subsequent experiences of taking the works of Antoine Bourdelle and Auguste Rodin, and Masuura’s works of photography are now in the collection of the National Library of France. It also led to an ambitious project to photograph all of Michelangelo’s sculptural works.

Masuura produced a collection of works, GENESIS, based on Michelangelo’s photography, and held solo-exhibitions at Casa Buonarotti in Florence and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. Many of Michelangelo’s sculptures, photographed under natural light, i.e. under the sun, moon, and stars, are expressed with subtle shading, showing the suppleness of muscles rather than the hardness of marble. “GENESIS” expresses the physical beauty and spirituality pursued by Michelangelo.

Why did Masuura stick to natural light? In order to reflect the power emanating from “God handed” Michelangelo’s work, it was necessary to shoot under the same conditions at his era without electricity. This style is later inherited in the photography of Japanese sacred sites of Ise-Jingu and Izumo Taisha.
Masuura’s works reveal a completely unique beauty. It surpasses the art of the sculptural object. Photography is the art of the moment of light and shadow, framed within a square. Masuura’s photographs, which exclude artificial lighting, are aesthetics expressed through pure light and shadow. By respecting nature, he was blessed with “light” when focusing Christ and Moses for “GENESIS”.

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Since 2006, he has photographed two major shrines in Japan, Ise-Jingu and Izumo Taisha. With a history of more than millenium, these shrines are rebuilt or repaired once every 20 years for Ise and once every 60 years for Izumo. This is a traditional event called “Sengu” that has continued for over 1,300 years. The regular restoration of shrine edifices built in the oldest shrine architectural style, and other ritual edifices, sacred treasures, etc. has a deep meaning of passing over the technology and securing continuous resources. This is the essence of ancient Japanese Shinto ritual, and is a “sustainable culture” for inheriting precious life.

Masuura is convinced that the “Sengu” has hints for achieving the SDGs, which are the opportunities of the world today. He organizes photo exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Currently, he is compiling photographs taken at Ise-Jingu and Izumo Taisha in a collection named “Kami no Miya” and holding photo exhibitions in Japan and overseas.
Since 2006, Masuura has been photographing ancient Shinto rituals and sacred places, starting with Sengu, and is now taking on the challenge of a new subject. Looking forward to his next work.

1981
Visited France
1986
Began photographing all the works of Maillol (~1988)
1987
Awarded at Salon d’Automne
198８
Permission to photograph Louvre Museum and Orsay Museum
Began Photographing Borobudur (Indonesia) (~1990)
1989
Began photographing the works of Bourdelle (~1993)
1993
Held an exhibition ‘Borobudur, the stone remains over 1,000 years’ at Kodak Photo Salon (Ginza)
1994
An exhibition ‘PROFIL – Hommage a Antoine Bourdelle’ at Matsuda Rotary Midosuji (Osaka)
Published a collection of photographs of maillol’s works (cover and color pages) from SKIRA Co. (Geneva)
An exhibition ‘Maillol – Hommage a Dina VIERNY’ at Alliance Francaise (Osaka)
Hosted by Alliance Francaise Osaka , Sponsored by French Consulate General
Began photographing the works of Michelangelo on Trial
1997
Began photographing the works of Rodin on the request of Musée Rodin (Paris)
1998
31 of his works are permanently preserved in the National Library of France
2000
An exhibition ‘GENESIS – The Works of Michelangelo’ at Casa Buonarroti (Florence)
Edited “GENESIS photographic collections” by Artone Co., Ltd. (Tokyo)
2003
An exhibition ‘GENESIS – poesy and luminosity of Michelangelo’ at Tokyo Metropolitan museum of Photography (Tokyo)
An exhibition ‘GENESIS – light and shadows of Michelangelo’　at Keihan Gallery of Arts and Science (Moriguchi)
Edited his-biographical treatment “Wish to be Ken Domon” by Murao Kunio, Artone Co., Ltd. (Tokyo)
2004
An exhibition ‘GENESIS – Michelangelo with Japanese paper of Mino’ at Active G. World design. gallery (Gifu)
2005
Began photographing BUNRAKU at National Theater of Bunraku (Osaka)
2006
Edited ‘Mountain where Tengu Lives’ by Artone Co.,Ltd. (Tokyo)
Began photographing The 62nd Jingu Shikinen Sengu Ceremony in Ise Jingu (Mie)
2008
Began photographing Heisei Dai Sengu Ceremony in Izumo Oyashiro (Shimane)
2009
Began photographing A Pilgrimage to Ancient Temples of Heisei
An pre-exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA‘ at SEKI gallery (Osaka)
An exhibition ‘Inori/Spritual Journey-A Trilogy’at AKT gallery (New York)
2010
A work of photograph ‘Heisei Dai Sengu’ started exhibiting at Izumo Oyashiro (Shimane)
2013
An exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA edited by Izumo Oyashiro’ at Tokyu Department store(Sapporo)
2013-2014
An exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA edited by Ise Jingu’ at Tokyu Department store(Sapporo)
2014
Participate in ‘Master Artists from Japan : LIVING TRADITIONS’ at University of California Santa Barbara
An exhibition ‘“KAMI NO MIYA” Ise Shrine Izumo Shrine Kisekino ryosengu YukihitoMasuura photo exhibit.’　in Leica Gallery Tokyo
Presented 4 works of  “KAMI NO MIYA”  to Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress.
2015
An exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA’ at University of the Philippines
2016
‘Special exhibition SENGU – Masuura Yukihito photographic exhibition “KAMI NO MIYA”’ at Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo
‘Ise-shima Summit holding commemoration Masuura Yukihito photographic exhibition “KAMI NO MIYA”’ at Mie Prefectural Art Museum
Edited ‘KAMI NO MIYA Ise Jingu ＆ Izumo Oyashiro’ by University of Tokyo Press
2017
An exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA’ at Toyooka Keikodo (Old Toyooka town hall)
An exhibition ‘KAMI NO MIYA’ at Udatsu Paper & Graft Museum（Fukui）
2018
An exhibition ‘HERITAGE Okamoto shrine and Otaki shrine、Ancestral god of Japanese paper’ at Udatsu Paper & Graft Museum（Fukui）
An exhibition ‘The sensitivity of Yukihito Masuura and the sustainable world’at The kudan house (Tokyo)
2019
Talk show hosted by Harvard Business School (New York)
An exhibition “THE JAPANESE AESTHETIC OF KEHAI IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF YUKIHITO MASUURA” at Foto Care (New York)
An exhibition “The Origin – Munakata-Sangu” at Toyooka Keikodo
An exhibition “KAMI NO MIYA – Vers l’avenir, 1300 ans de prière” at Salle Beatrice Hodent de Broutelles (Paris)
2020
Honoured with the Medal with Blue Ribbon from government
2021
Donated 15 works of  “KAMI NO MIYA” to the Cernuschi Museum in Paris
An exhibition ‘Masuura Yukihito, Les Sanctuaires des Divinités‘ at the same museum

collection of works

  • Musée Rodin, Paris
  • Musée Maillol, Paris
  • Musée Bourdelle, Paris
  • Bibliothèque National de France, Paris
  • Musée Cernuschi, Paris
  • Casa Buonarroti, Florence
  • Imperial Palace, Tokyo
  • Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence, Tokyo
  • Izumo Oyashiro
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
  • Gifu Prefectural Office
  • Mie Prefectural Government, etc.

Affiliation

Enjin 01 Cultural Strategy Conference

A group of volunteers established in 2001 by gathering cultural and intellectuals from various fields.
https://www.enjin01.org/

General Incorporated Foundation Kami no Miya Kyodo-tai (Sustainable World Organization)

Established in 2013, incorporated in 2015. Honorary advisors include Mr. Takamasa Senge, chief priest of Izumo Oyashiro Shrine, and Mr. Eiji Hattori, former Advisor to the Director-General and Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of UNESCO.
As a hint for a sustainable world, photo exhibitions in Japan and overseas with volunteers through a collection of works “KAMI NO MIYA” that continue to photograph the thought and system of the ancient Japanese spiritual culture “Sengu” which boasts a tradition more than 1300years.
http://www.kaminomiya.com/

Her Majesty the Empress Honored Visit
Yukihito Masuura Photo Exhibition
April 24, 2003 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography