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Lake Superior, Cascade River

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1995

Artist:

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Japanese, born 1948

About this artwork

Hiroshi Sugimoto is widely celebrated for photographs that explore time, space, and perception. Sugimoto began photographing bodies of water with a large-format camera in 1980, resulting in the Seascapes series, which continues to this day. Although his fascination with the subject has spanned decades, his aim remains to “capture the sea as if it were being seen for the first time.” For each body of water he visits, he makes multiple images reflecting varying times of day, shutter speeds, lengths of exposure, and atmospheric conditions. The spareness of this nocturnal image—with a barely visible horizon line bisecting sea and sky—suggests something at once elemental and eternal. Air and water are vital to life, and the world’s lakes, rivers, and oceans have been essential to the development of trade and other far-reaching human activities. Yet the body of water in this photograph seems untouched by civilization or the vicissitudes of individual lives.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Title

Lake Superior, Cascade River

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1995

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Edition

11 of 25

Inscriptions

Blindstamped recto, lower center, below image: "LAKE SUPERIOR CASCADE RIVER 1995"; blindstamped recto, lower right, below image: "11/25 429"; signed recto, on mount, lower right, below image, in graphite: "Hiroshi Sugimoto"; inscribed recto, on mount, lower right, below image, in graphite: "HS.0528.4"; unmarked verso

Dimensions

Image: 42.1 × 64.6 cm (16 5/8 × 25 7/16 in.); Paper: 47.2 × 60.5 cm (18 5/8 × 23 7/8 in.); Mount: 50.3 × 63.6 cm (19 13/16 × 25 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Comer Foundation Fund

Reference Number

1996.405

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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