Hiroshi SugimotoDioramas

Hiroshi Sugimoto began Dioramas, his earliest photographic series, upon his arrival in New York in 1974. While visiting the American Museum of Natural History, the artist made an important observation. “The stuffed animals positioned before painted backdrops looked utterly fake, yet by taking a quick peek with one eye closed, all perspective vanished, and suddenly they looked very real,” recalls Sugimoto. “I had found a way to see the world as a camera does. However fake the subject, once photographed, it’s as good as real.”