Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan at at the International Center of Photography, May 1 6 – September 7, 2 0 0 8. New York.

A group show that brings together 13 contemporary Japanese photographers representing the many faces of contemporary Japan. As a whole, the exhibition shows a culture in transition, remembering its past, but responding drastically to a volatile present and illuminates the ways in which Japanese artists view their society and culture today.

Among the artists is Hiroh Kikai, 鬼海 弘雄. Working with a Hasselblad camera and presented in the nostalgic of silver/gelatin, black & white prints, photographs his subjects in even, natural light as they stand in a pose of their own choosing . We are presented with portraits of men and women who are just seen as an individual in front of the camera.

Kikai says that he rarely spends more…