‘The Photographers’ at Beetles + Huxley – Artist Profile: TATSUO SUZUKI
Osborne Samuel and Beetles + Huxley’s annual collaborative photography exhibition ‘The Photographers’ launched last week, bringing together works by over 40 leading artists spanning from 1910 to the present day. The exhibition traces the history of photography from its early developments through its rise in status as both creative and documentary medium; from war photography to contemporary fashion imagery.
Covering themes from portraiture and fashion to photojournalism and industrial landscape photography, exhibition will take place in both galleries. Osborne Samuel will host limited editions of seminal works by the great names of early black and white photography, such as Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt and Melvin Sokolski, through to contemporary classics including The Kate Moss Portfolio by Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz, Terry Richardson and Bruce Weber. Beetles + Huxley will offer a more contemporary panorama, showcasing the creations of cutting edge artists from their roster, such as Ren Hang and Zhang Kechun.
Now, street photographer Tatsu Suzuki’s works are highlighted. The Japanese street photographer, living and working in Ota, Tokyo came to photography later than most. Having had a successful career in business, he started photographing the streets of Tokyo in 2008. Although largely self-taught, in 2014 Suzuki studied for a year at Resist Photo School, Tokyo. His work was first exhibited in Kanagawa, Japan.
Suzuki uses long exposures and intense contrasts to capture the frenetic atmosphere of the Tokyo streets. He works mainly in black and white, considering it to be ‘more emotional and more aggressive’ than colour. With reference to the sharp tonal and composition contrasts of William Klein and Robert Frank, Suzuki creates a street theatre brimming with diversity and eccentricity. Working in relation to the tradition of Japanese street photography made famous by Daido Moriyama, Suzuki captures the spirit of the Japanese metropolis with courageous candour whilst maintaining a perceptive empathy.
Also a punk rock guitarist, Suzuki’s images buzz with the hectic energy of the city streets. Taking up the gauntlet laid down by the greats of twentieth-century street photography, Suzuki photographs with an urgency and dynamism that allows him to produce rambunctious street scenes interlaced with thoughtful character studies. Using his camera, he slices through a scene, employing Henri Cartier-Bresson’s maxim of ‘the decisive moment’. ‘Hesitation’, he has said, ‘is the enemy of street photography’.
The artists’s prints are available for purchase directly from http://www.beetlesandhuxley.com/
All images: Beetles+Huxley Gallery
