Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A documentary photo exhibition by photographer SUZUKI Hiroyuki commemorating the 10th anniversary of the completion of restoration work on Tokyo Station building in central Tokyo, is being held inside the station. The photo exhibition is sponsored by JR East and Tokyo Station, with the support of companies such as Kajima Corporation, Shimizu Corporation, and Tekken Corporation.

Much of Hiroyuki Suzuki’s work has evolved from his partnership with his wife, well-known fashion designer Junko Koshino. As a producer of her fashion shows which have been highly acclaimed internationally, he first started taking photographs as a record of their work and this led to requests such as being asked to photograph Dubai Metro.

Apart from the photographic record of his wife’s shows, Suzuki’s photography so far has been of famous construction sites although the exhibition also reflects his mission to document a glimpse into the history of daily human life.

In an interview with Arab News, Suzuki said that a photograph can stop time. Tokyo Station was one of the buildings that suffered most damage in the Great Tokyo Air Raid in 1945, but now, 70 years later, many people and not just the younger generation, are ignorant of this, he told Arab News Japan.

Suzuki is also an avid soccer fan and traveled to the final match of the Asian Cup held in Qatar. At that time, an executive of Qatar Gas Company who happened to be sitting next to him asked that he photograph the facilities of Qatar Gas.

“Qatar Today” was held in Tokyo to express gratitude for the support received from Qatar after the Tohoku earthquake.

Hiroyuki Suzuki also photographed the basement construction of New York’s Grand Station on the recommendation of a Japanese company, and his photographs are often used to attract potential tourists to Japan from abroad.

Many of the photographs of Tokyo Station on display are in black and white, and highlight some of the history of the Station which is used by 800,000 people every day.