ABOUT - JIRO SHIMIZU

© Thilo Remini, Luna Weis, Andreas Graf Waldschütz

STORYTELLING PHOTOGRAPHY

JIRO SHIMIZU

Jiro Shimizu’s artwork reveals the complexity of his photographic narration, time after time. From Japanese decent, the Viennese photographer combines two differently influenced iconographies.

He combines the classical picture-composition with the narrative art of Japanese fairy tales, in which every object is ensouled and animals are equal protagonists.“ (Exhibition text: „Between Heaven and Earth“) In the tradition of Japanese animation movies, as well as Japan’s pop and youth culture, Shimizu creates a phantastic world “between heaven and earth” in his large- sized photos.

For this, the artist takes inspiration from both, the old masters and the scenography of movie classics, to bring his ideas to life with fulminant and elaborate stagings. In his photo series the characters he creates, act in an enclosed and symbolical world, inhabited by wild animals, phantastic machines and surrealistic figures.

One of the particularities of his works is the elaborate production of the photos. Every story antedates a work process lasting for months, in which every scenery and prop is drawn in detail and constructed by the artist himself.

However, the main focus of Shimizu lies in the depiction of human emotions „One can never grow tired of humans, their dreams and emotions.“

„Between Heaven and Earth“ was the titel of his first solo exhibition in November 2014 after 5 years deveopement of his artistic approach.

Jiro Shimizu was born in Marburg an der Lahn in Germany and works as a free photographer & film producer based in Vienna, Austria since 2006.