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In today's world of Instagram madness, it can be hard to find a photograph that makes use of color in a unique, yet familiar way. Artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto doesn't seem to have a problem with color photography, marrying both simplicity and beauty in his work, "Color of Shadow".


Hiroshi Sugimoto has already been featured here before for his stark yet moving black-and-white images of Seascapes. This time, he turns his lens towards the light of the Sun, capturing the different colors produced by the different angles of sunlight.


Surprisingly, this is Sugimoto's first foray into color photography, having worked almost exclusively with black-and-white images. His pictures, however, don't betray any hint of unfamiliarity, looking instead like the works of a seasoned master.

In order to capture the light paintings, Sugimoto placed a crystal prism in the center of the room. Sunlight is then filtered into the glass piece, splitting the Sun's "shadow" as it were into different spectrums of light, and painting a blank wall with color. The photographer then used a Polaroid camera to capture the resulting "color shadows".


This project is actually a collaboration with the fashion house Hermès which will use the different color patterns for its limited edition silk scarves.

The commercialization of the photographer's artworks shouldn't distract from its value however as the light painting are akin to the painted masterpieces of Mark Rothko, only in Sugimoto's case, it's nature that provides the light and colors; all the photographer is doing is adjusting the variables a bit to capture the Sun's own light paintings.


This is Hiroshi Sugimoto's website. For his previously featured works, check out his Seascapes. His published artworks include Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hiroshi Sugimoto: Architecture and Sugimoto: Portraits.