Mr. Honjo, who has established a unique style of photographing people and landscapes to look like miniatures using a 4×5 field camera (large-format camera) known as ‘Shinogo,’ received the 32nd Kimura Ihei Award for his photo book ‘small planet.’ In 2022, he held his first large-scale solo exhibition, ‘un(real)utopia,’ at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

In this exhibition, works are selected across various photo books, including notable ones like ‘small planet,’ ‘Tokyo,’ ‘Kyoto,’ ‘tohoku311,’ ‘plastic nature,’ and ‘Kenya,’ without restricting to a specific period, area, or theme. Additionally, new works shot from the skies above Toranomon Hills Station Tower, where art cruise gallery is located, will also be unveiled.

Mr. Honjo’s photographic works are often described with cool terms like ‘fiction’ and ‘unreality.’ However, the landscapes captured from an aerial perspective convey a warm gaze that the artist directs towards ‘towns’ and ‘people.’ The omission of superficial information intensifies the presence of people, flora and fauna, and the breath of nature, highlighting the essence of things.

This perspective is also shared with fashion, our main field. Clothing dominates the surface information of the person wearing it, but what they choose and how they wear it is a reflection of their individuality and essence.

Please enjoy the journey through the small planet and unreal utopia captured by Naoki Honjo, exploring what we ‘see’ and what ‘appears,’ oscillating between the subjective and the objective.