EXHIBITIONS
Ikko Narahara “Where Time Has Vanished”
Dates: Jun 12 – Jul 19, 2025
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film
Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film is pleased to present “Where Time Has Vanished,” an exhibition of the photography of Ikko Narahara, from Thursday, June 12 to Saturday, July 19, 2025. This exhibition, the artist’s first solo show at the gallery in two years, will feature 15 vintage prints from the series of the same title. The series captured the landscapes of the United States from Narahara’s unique macroscopic perspective during his stay from 1970 to 1974, and was compiled into a photo book in 1975 after his return to Japan.
One night, as a light fog began to drift in, I was walking near the San Francisco port when I came across a house completely covered in ivy. Through the leaves above the door, I could make out the number 5… I wondered if anyone might be inside.
Entirely unimaginable things might be unfolding inside that house… even the thought of it was terrifying. It felt like trying to peer into the depths of someone’s soul. Once again, I thought of the landscape of another country that lay within my own heart. I had lived in that country for four years. When I closed the door with my own hand, the landscape of that country, reflecting the glare of the lit-up stage called America, had already caused the reality of time to vanish.
Ikko Narahara, January 1975
“A Sea without Water”, Where Time Has Vanished, Asahi Shimbun-sha, 1975, n.p.
After traveling through Europe in the early 1960s, Narahara set his sights on the US, arriving in New York in 1970. The following year, he took part in a workshop led by Diane Arbus (1923-1971), who was quickly gaining recognition as a bold and groundbreaking photographer. His in-depth discussions with Arbus, known for her raw and personal approach to photography, had a profound impact on Narahara, causing him to reassess his own approach to the medium. In 1971 and 1972, Narahara embarked on two cross-country trips across the US. His first trip took him by long-distance bus to the West, where he rented a car and spent around 20 days exploring various regions. On his second trip, Narahara purchased a new station wagon and traveled through the Midwest, passing through Pennsylvania and Illinois before heading south to Missouri. From there he continued his three-month journey, revisiting the West. While in New Mexico, Narahara visited villages inhabited by Native Americans and immersed himself in their philosophy of coexistence with nature, an experience he cited as life-changing. Desolate airfields scattered across the vast desert, and crumbling ghost towns that once prospered due to coal mining, embody nature’s vast power to shape time at a scale beyond the human lifespan. Narahara recalled that these scenes evoked a sensation like stepping onto an alien planet. The unforgiving sunlight beating down on the bare earth creates striking contrasts in his photographs, casting deep shadows that intensify the images’ impact. When we reopen the door to the American landscapes that Narahara closed nearly half a century ago, timeless images emerge before us, revealing the artist’s ceaseless pursuit of the universal through photography.
Ikko Narahara’s photobook Where Time Has Vanished will be republished by Fukkan.com in late August.
【Publication details】
Ikko Narahara, Where Time Has Vanished
Published by Fukkan.com, 2025
Retail price: JPY 13,000. + TAX
General sales from late August
Ikko Narahara was born in 1931 in Fukuoka Prefecture and passed away in 2020. His father, a prosecutor, frequently relocated for work; this meant that Narahara spent his adolescence living in various places throughout Japan. At the same time Narahara began photographing, in 1946, he was also interested in art and literature. He graduated from Chuo University with a degree in Law in 1954, and he gained a master’s degree in Art (specializing in Art History) at Waseda University. In 1955, he joined the innovative artist group Jitsuzaisha (Real Existence). This group was headed by Masuo Ikeda and Ay-O, and it also gave Narahara the opportunity to deepen his connection to Shuzo Takiguchi, as well as other artists like Tatsuo Ikeda and On Kawara. At the same time, he also came to know Shomei Tomatsu, Eikoh Hosoe, and Kikuji Kawada. In 1959, together with other photographers, these four formed the independent photo agency VIVO, which dissolved in 1961. Narahara went on to photograph various places around the world while basing himself in Paris (1962-65) and New York (1970-74). Aside from his numerous exhibitions, Narahara has also published many photography books, finding favorable reception abroad. Major exhibitions include “Human Land,” Matsushima Gallery, Tokyo (1956); “Ikko Narahara,” Maison Européenne de La Photographie, Paris (2002-2003) and “Mirror of Space and Time: Synchronicity,” Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (2004). Major awards include the Japan Photo Critics Association Newcomer’s Award (1958), the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture’s Art Encouragement Prize (1968), the Mainichi Arts Award (1968), the Photographic Society of Japan Annual Award (1986), the Medal with Purple Ribbon (1996), Distinguished Contributions Award of the Photographic Society of Japan Awards (2005), and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2006).
