Held at the Chanel Nexus Hall in Ginza, this exhibition showcases roughly 100 photographs of the Palace of Versailles captured by Yasumichi Morita. While Morita is renowned as a multifaceted designer, dabbling in interior, graphic and product design, he has recently emerged as an artist in his own right, with photo exhibitions in Paris since 2015.
The Palace of Versailles, a baroque architectural marvel initiated by King Louis XIV, became the epitome of graceful courtly culture. In his black-and-white images, Morita encapsulates the palace's golden allure and radiant shimmer, emphasising the sunlight's varying nuances across seasons.
Drawing inspiration from Junichiro Tanizaki's essay, the exhibition is aptly titled 'In Praise of Shadows'. Through this display, Morita juxtaposes contrasts: light versus shadow, surface versus depth, above and below ground. He reflects upon the Palace as the perfect tableau to represent humanity's eternal dance of 'light and shade'.