Takashi Arai

Takashi Arai (born June 5, 1978) is a Japanese photographer/visual artist who is well known for his unique practice in contemporary daguerreotype. He is based in Kawasaki & Tono, Japan.

Biography Arai started University as a student of biology, and encountered photography for the first time there. He encountered the daguerreotype in a search to trace photography back to its roots, and dedicated the time and effort necessary to master the complex technique behind it.

This project led him to photograph the deeply interconnected subjects of Fukushima, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. After 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami he often visited Fukushima and depicted the aftermath of the triple disaster.

The product of these ventures can be seen in two of his major projects. Here and There – Tomorrow's Islands, a series of documentary-style daguerreotypes that he created in Fukushima after the triple disaster there in 2011. This project stands out from others he has done, as this addresses a nuclear event that occurred during his lifetime, whereas other nuclear events he has had as the subject of his work (like the Daigo Fukuryu Maru) are significantly older.

Another project similar in concept, but not in medium, to the two previously mentioned project is Arai's 49 Pumpkins. Originally commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, 49 Pumpkins is a short film that addressing a series of events following the bombing of Hiroshima. For context, a year after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, an oddly large number if pumpkins were harvested in Hiroshima. 49 "pumpkin bombs" –– dummy atomic bombs –– were dropped in 49 locations that would have been targeted if Japan had not surrendered. This was the basis of the project, and the original plan had been to charter a North American B-25 Mitchell to actually drop pumpkin "bombs" (which would have been 49 real pumpkins).

His other major projects include Tomorrow's History. This is a collection of daguerreotype portraits of teenagers from historically stigmatized teenagers, which was then coupled with an interview of the subject of the photograph. The Daily Daguerreotype Project is Arai's ongoing project that started in 2011. It as originally housed on Arai's website, but has since moved to Instagram. Rather than being on an Instagram account under Arai's name, it is housed on an account named daily_dag with his name and website link the bio. His short description of the project in the bio reads "Daily daguerreotype practice and ambient sounds during exposures since 2011." Photos from before the move to Instagram are still housed on Arai's website under a tab called "Daily D-type Project" . As fitting for the description, the Daily Daguerreotype Project does not have a consistent choice of subject–– the subjects range from people, to flowers, to landscapes. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Mori Art Museum, and National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, among other international venues.

His works are held in the collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Peabody Essex Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and Musée Guimet, among others.

List of installations "Photography Will Be" –– Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art "Silver-plated" –– Artpace San Antonio "In the Wake" The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston "To What End?" –– Camera Austria, Graz "The 41st Ikei Kimura Award Exhibition" –– Konica Minolta Gallery Dubai Photo, 2016 "In the Wake" –– Japan Society, NYC 2016 Festival Photo La Gacilly, 2016 "Tomorrow's History" –– Gallery Intersection 611, Hiroshima (Work in Progress) "A New and Mysterious Art" –– Howard Greenberg Gallery The 11th Shanghai Biennale, The Power Station Museum, Shanghai, 2017 "In the Wake" –– Asia Society Houston, 2017 "Takashi Arai: Bright was the Morning" Yokohama Civic Art Gallery Azumino

Awards In 2016, Arai received the 41st Kimura Ihei Award for his first monograph "MONUMENTS" (PGI, 2015). He is also the winner of the Source-Cord Prize (the Solas Prize) 2014, UK, and Photographic Society of Japan Awards: Newcomer's Award (2016). In 2018 he won the category prize at the 72nd Salerno International Film Festival for his short film “Oshira Kagami (The Mirror of the Oshira Deity).”

Other work Arai has also worked as a researcher for interdisciplinary studies since 2017. These projects include the “Interdisciplinary Studies of Radiation Effects on the Everyday Life of Victims” with the National Museum of Ethnology, and “Anima Philosophica: Nature, Disaster, and Animism in Japan” with the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.