Attemps to represent time through photography: Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Theaters series

Starting in the late 1970s, Hiroshi Sugimoto took pictures of cinemas interiors and drive-ins with the aim of encapsulate the whole lenght of a movie in a single shot. He left the camera shutters open throughout the running of a movie and the glowing screen of the cinemas was left as a trace on each take.

A somehow uncanny light resonates in the dark cinema halls. At a further glance, this central light ethereally underlines the rich architectural details of the theater interiors. You might want to confront Sugimoto’s work with Michael Wesely’s, a photographer that uses to take photographs featuringi  3 years long exposures: read “The passing of time“, (on Socks).

Images via:
Artists’ Books and Multiples
Photoforager
All images: © Hiroshi Sugimoto