Yamamoto Masao, born in 1957 in Gamagori, is a Japanese photographer, who is famous for small-sized silver gelatine prints. His works are mainly inspired by haiku poetry style, which strongly implies the importance of harmony, spirituality and the importance of the moment in coherence with the Japanese philosophy of Zen.

Masao’s first exhibitions took place in 1994 and 1996, specifically in San Francisco and New York. Further, he was exhibited in many countries in Europe, Russia, Brazil and Japan. Besides that, his works are currently included in several museum collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, International Center of Photography in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The exhibition at the Alfred-Erhardt-Stiftung includes a wall installation that integrates several works by Alfred Erhardt. The main points of interest of the exhibition are the photographs from Masao’s so-called “Shizuka” series, where the word “shizuka” implies purity and cleanness. The photographs include the objects that Yamamoto Masao uncovered in the forests around his neighbourhood.

Through his works, Yamamoto Masao highlights the importance of the nature and the idea, that the human being is only a part of it and is unable to see and hear the moment of the universe. Thus,  the “Shizuka” series tend to capture elusive moments of the air flows, the smells of the ground and distinctive noises of nature.

• http://www.photography-in.berlin/alfred-ehrhardt-foundation-yamamoto-masao-microcosm-macrocosm/ http://www.photography-in.berlin/alfred-ehrhardt-foundation-yamamoto-masao-microcosm-macrocosm/
• https://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/kultur/ausstellungen.html https://www.de.emb-japan.go.jp/kultur/ausstellungen.html
• http://www.alfred-ehrhardt-stiftung.de/index.php?aid=533-2&aktuelle-ausstellungen http://www.alfred-ehrhardt-stiftung.de/index.php?aid=533-2&aktuelle-ausstellungen
• http://www.graphicine.com/masao-yamamoto-shizuka/ http://www.graphicine.com/masao-yamamoto-shizuka/