New York Photo Plus 1994 -

"Uptown Bound" Masayo Nishimura at Place M in Tokyo, Japan 2/17 - 3/2, 2025

UPTOWN BOUND by Masayo Nishimura

February 17 - March 2, 2025

Place M gallery

1-2-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan

東京都新宿区新宿1-2-11 近代ビル3F
電話：03-3341-6107

Uptown Bound by Masayo Nishimura Feb 17 - Mar 2, 2025, Place M gallery, Tokyo

Uptown Bound by Masayo Nishimura

February 17 - March 2, 2025

Place M gallery

1-2-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan

東京都新宿区新宿1-2-11 近代ビル3F, Phone：03-3341-6107

Statement

1993年にニューヨーク市立ハンター・カレッジで写真の勉強を始めた時から、私は自

宅近くの地下鉄構内に織り出される光と影の存在に惹かれていました。特に天窓から差

し込む光が筋となって車体や線路に差し込む情景は、時として中世の教会や宗教画のよ

うにも見え、日常の風景の中で生み出される静謐な瞬間に私はいつも魅せられました。

「Uptown Bound」シリーズは、地上からの光線に照らされる構内の様々な情景をス

ローシャッターで捉えたものです。

Masayo Nishimura began studying photography in 1993 at Hunter College in

New York City. From the beginning, she was attracted to the lights and

shadows created by the subway stations, in which the roofs of cars and

tracks are bathed in sunlight from the street level, forming a unique shape of

shadows. She felt they looked serene and beautiful, often reminding her of

Medieval religious paintings. She always marveled at the effects produced by

this everyday environment. The Uptown Bound series of photographs were

initially shot in 1999 - 2000 at the stations on the Upper West Side. In this

work, she focused on capturing the utmost of these unique and fascinating

moments created in the subway architecture.

Masayo Nishimura "Crossing the Road" Photography June 22 – July 17, 2021, Ceres Gallery

Artist Note

About a decade ago, I started photographing pedestrians crossing the road in midtown Tokyo whenever I had a chance to visit my native country, Japan.

Initially, it was just spontaneous shooting done out of curiosity. One day, while I was doing the street shots in midtown Tokyo, I found myself on the 4th-floor balcony of a five-story walk-up building located at the corner of the Yotsuya square intersection. The commercial building had open-air terraces on each floor connected by a public stairway, which always seemed empty. I thought it was perfect for observing the people underneath without getting anyone's attention. From that point on, I started taking photographs of pedestrians crossing the road.

After developing the films, I noticed that various dramas were going on within each pedestrian in the fleeting moment between the traffic signal change from green to red. Some looked happy; some looked sad. Some had anxiety written on their faces; others were marked by a nonchalant tranquility. Young couples hold each other’s hands intimately, while older couples hide their faces from the other while talking. An older man with a cane stops midway, while a young man runs through the crowd. Both gasp for breath. Many stare at their phones with a blank expression.

Though they move together, each person is ultimately alone in their own world, just sharing a brief moment on the road. Each person seems to mind their own business and is unaware of the other’s presence. But they all navigate themselves so well without bumping each other, as if, they were magnets avoid between the North and South Pole. Those movements seem like those of rather well-choreographed dancers or actors that flow seamlessly across the stage.

I exhibited a series of these images for the first time in my solo show in February 2012 that caught some critics' attention. After the show, my curiosity grew, and I started taking more of these crosswalk shots. While exploring, I found a pedestrian bridge near the Iidabashi train station in midtown Tokyo. Because I was able to observe pedestrians walking underneath very closely, it became another ideal spot for sneak-shooting. Each time I returned to Japan from 2012 to 2016, I commuted to Iidabashi to photograph.

I was not planning to do another show using these crossing pictures. Then, last spring, while I was trapped in my house in New York during the initial outbreak of COVID-19, I started looking over the shots I had taken before.

While looking through the images, I was struck by each pedestrian’s lively facial and physical expressions as they crossed the intersections. I thought about how much I missed the time when I used to photograph people who were crossing the roads so casually and carelessly, without keeping a distance from each other. I longed for the everyday life that we all once knew.

More than a year later, we still cannot live life normally as we once did, but I feel incredibly fortunate that I was able finish printing these images for my show, something that did not seem feasible not even a few months ago. I want to thank my dear printer and the Japanese pedestrians who encouraged and inspired me throughout the project.

http://multisoup.com/crossingtheroad.html

Masayo Nishimura "Crossing the Road" Photography June 22 – July 17, 2021, Ceres Gallery

"The Crossing with Parasols -Tokyo, June 2014 #1 & #2" , 35.5” x 26.8”, Color photograph

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Masayo Nishimura

Crossing the Road

Photography

June 22 – July 17, 2021

Artist will be present from 12-6 pm,

Saturday, July 3; Saturday July 17

Ceres Gallery is pleased to present Masayo Nishimura’s Crossing the Road, a solo exhibition of Nishimura’s photographs and related videos.

This exhibition features Nishimura’s sequential series of color photographs, featuring pedestrians scattered on Tokyo’s busy business streets during the brief transition of the traffic signal change from green to red. Her consecutive shots and paused frames curiously capture a “time-based march” of the pedestrian at city crosswalks, amidst the vehicular traffic under Tokyo's urban backdrop.

At first glance, Nishimura's people seem frozen and robotically detached from each other. However, on closer inspection, these paused frames reveal various engaging facial and physical expressions on the move, telling us individual stories behind each person's life. Simultaneously, the pedestrians seem to blend well as a group during the short period while crossing the roads, co-creating the mass human current unknowingly. In a variety of the images, the movements almost seem inspired by a well-choreographed stage sequence.

As in her previous work, including of the New York City subway, Nishimura captures these images casually and spontaneously: a distant observer who does not interact with her subjects. These everyday scenes transform themselves into a unique expression and unexpectedly tell stories by themselves, revealing Nishimura’s ability to uncover the unseen in city life.

* All the shots are taken handheld with a 120 mm film camera and digitally C-printed on Fuji paper.

http://multisoup.com/crossingtheroad.html

For more information please contact:

Stefany Benson

Director, Ceres Gallery

547 West 27th St Suite 201 New York, NY 10001

phone: 212-947-6100

fax: 212-202-5455

art@ceresgallery.org

http://ceresgallery.org/

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12pm - 6pm

Masayo Nishimura:

mniart@aol.com

http://multisoup.com/photography.html

Masayo Nishimura Uptown Bound: A Retrospective Photography May 22 – June 16 2018

Ceres Gallery
547 West 27th St Suite 201 New York, NY 10001
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12pm - 6pm and Thursday 12-8pm.

phone: 212-947-6100
fax: 212-202-5455

art@ceresgallery.org
http://ceresgallery.org/

Masayo Nishimura:
https://ceresgallery.org/?page_id=1091

Masayo Nishimura Uptown Bound: A Retrospective Photography May 24, 2018

Masayo Nishimura Uptown Bound: A Retrospective Photography May 22 – June 16 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Masayo Nishimura

Uptown Bound: A Retrospective

Photography

May 22 – June 16, 2018

Opening Reception, Thursday, May 24th, 6pm - 8pm

Ceres gallery is pleased to present Masayo Nishimura’s Uptown Bound: A Retrospective, a solo exhibition of Nishimura’s photographs. The Opening Reception will take place on Thursday, May 24th from 6pm until 8pm.

This exhibition features a retrospective of Nishimura’s Uptown Bound series of color photographs originally shot in 2000. In this work, Nishimura focused on the lights and shadows created by New York City subway architecture in which the roofs of cars and tracks are bathed in light from the street level, looking quiet, beautiful, and reminiscent of Medieval religious paintings. Nishimura captured a fascinating moment created by this everyday environment.

Nishimura began studying photography in 1993. From the beginning she was attracted to the lights and shadows created by subway architecture, especially the way the cars and tracks are bathed in light from the street. She always marveled at the effects produced. Down in the station, Nishimura felt as if she were inside a huge fish tank, with blurry passengers and cars floating by in the depths. Illuminated by artificial light, everything looked quiet and detached from reality. Nishimura was always fascinated with those surreal images.