India: Where prayer echoes

Izu left Japan for New York in 1971 at the age of 21. For over 50 years, he has explored themes of prayer and human dignity in his work to widespread international acclaim. During his first visit to Egypt in 1979, he became fascinated by presences beyond human understanding and began photographing holy sites, stone ruins, and sacred architecture around the world.

Using large-format film and the platinum-palladium printing process, Izu creates images that capture the dense atmosphere and sense of sanctity that permeate these places in extraordinary detail and rich tonal gradation. Shaped by the long periods he spends with his subjects, each photograph stirs viewers’ imaginations and emotions by conveying a place’s passage of time and its intangible presence. The exhibition features approximately 20 platinum-palladium contact prints and quietly reflects on prayer as a fundamental human act and on the inner peace it can bring.

Kenro Izu, Amritsar #376 Punjab, India, 2009 - Courtesy of the artist and the gallery