There's a special place at the center of the Hirshhorn's exhibition of photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto (b. 1948): in a darkened arc of the museum, thirteen of Sugimoto's large (3'x4') black and white seascapes are hung. They're mounted directly on the wall without matting, and each is lit precisely with a shuttered spotlight so that it seems to float in the darkness.

The composition of each of the seascapes, from locations around the world, is the same: dark water below, pale sky above, the horizon line exactly cutting the image in halves. The water is calm but never completely still; it is scumbled with ripples but not frothed with whitecaps. Sometimes the horizon is smudged with fog, or an overcast sun throws blurry highlights on the water.

Benches are generously provided in the gallery, set well away from the photographs. As viewers pass by the images, it's as if we were in a monochrome aquarium. Or a chapel of Mark Rothkos in silver halide.

 posted: 1:36:17 PM