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Focus features two in-depth reviews each month of fine art, architecture and design exhibitions and events at art museums, galleries and alternative spaces around Japan. The contributors are non-Japanese art critics living in Japan.

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image image Bringing Photography Closer: The IMA Concept Store Gallery
Michael Pronko
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Magazines, exhibition catalogs, and photo books line the neat, tidy shelves of the bookstore. The openness of the space creates an inviting way in to the gallery beyond.

Bringing photos into the lives of people in Tokyo is a challenge that the IMA Concept Store Gallery takes so seriously they made their slogan "Living with Photography."

IMA magazine started publishing in 2012 and immediately garnered a reputation for the quality of its work and a respect for its mission of introducing young Japanese artists to a broader audience. The magazine, though, was not enough, the editors decided. To really bring artistic photographs into people's lives, they had to do more.

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The gallery space is highly flexible, making it easy to hold either extensive single exhibitions or simultaneous shows by photographers whose works go together in interesting ways.

So the editors and the parent company, Amana, decided to turn the magazine into a three-dimensional experience so people could see, hear, feel, and think about photography. They found a perfect space in Roppongi, opened a bookstore and gallery there in March 2014, and have held new exhibitions every month or two since.

Talking in the sleek meeting room next to the gallery, IMA editor Ayaka Nakamura explained that their objectives required more than just a magazine. The purpose of the gallery is to be a space where people can come close to photographic art and experience it directly and intimately.

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The gallery's fluid accessibility encourage visitors to take their time looking at the photos, walk over to the shop to see publications related to the exhibit, then meander back over to the photos again.

The front door opens into a spacious interior that has a shop stocked with books and magazines on photography, including IMA. The store and gallery spaces are basically the same -- open, welcoming, and aimed at bringing people closer to the art of photography by letting them experience the exhibits without feeling the reticence some galleries might induce, and without charge.

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Part of an exhibition from early 2016 titled Action Drawing: Diorama Maps and New Work by Sohei Nishino.

The exhibits change regularly and mainly feature younger Japanese artists like photographer Yoshinori Mizutani, but also long-established photographers like Nobuyoshi Araki. The latter's recent show, Sentimental Journey, was made up entirely of his contact sheets. The sheets were displayed in the actual size of the original print film, requiring viewers to stand very close to see the small photographic rolls. That closeness, though, reduced the respectful distance visitors often feel compelled to maintain in museums or galleries.

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The next main exhibition, featuring two of Japan's most promising young photographers, will include Hideyuki Ishibashi, whose work is seen here. The show runs from July 29 to September 24, 2016. Photo © Hideyuki Ishibashi, Présage, 2014

Yet IMA does more than publish a superb magazine and curate shows. The first English edition of IMA magazine has just been published, with more to come, and a school has been set up to teach the practical aspects of a career in photography. For art students and aspiring photographers, IMA offers portfolio reviews, special lectures, and immersive learning with professionals, editors, and teachers. IMA also serves as agent for several photographers, representing and supporting them both in Japan and abroad.

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One up-and-coming photographer who will also have a wall-space exhibit at IMA is Yoshinori Mizutani. Photo © Yoshinori Mizutani, Kawau, 2015

Nakamura explained that for most Japanese, art and life are not close. People rarely invest in artworks or have them in their homes. Through its magazine and gallery, IMA is trying to broaden the potential audience for artistic photography by bringing novelists, designers, and fashion workers into the space -- as well as businesspeople, housewives, and students to give them a feel for how photographic art can enrich their life. Putting the gallery in Roppongi, with easy access from all parts of Tokyo, is key to that process.

For the people working at IMA, the slogan "Living with Photography" means something more than knowing about camera equipment or snapping family and food photos. It means coming to appreciate the impact, meaning, and beauty of artistic photographs. IMA Concept Store Gallery is well on the way to achieving that goal. Their gallery/store/agency/publishing space is already turning into a center for promoting new artistic photography in Japan.

All images courtesy of the IMA Concept Store.


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  IMA Concept Store Gallery
  3F Axis Bldg., 5-17-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5572-7144
Open: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Closed: Sundays, Mondays, and all holidays
Access: 7-minute walk from Roppongi Station, 7-minute walk from Azabu-Juban Station, 5-minute walk from Roppongi-Itchome Station
Entry: Free
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Michael Pronko
Michael Pronko teaches American literature, film, art and music at Meiji Gakuin University. He has published three collections of essays about Tokyo and blogs at http://www.michaelpronko.com/. He has appeared on NHK, Sekai-ichi Uketai Jugyo and other TV programs, and runs his own website, http://www.jazzinjapan.com/new/. His articles have appeared in Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times and other publications.
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