Works
  • Koichiro Kurita, Cloud in Small Lake II, Montville, ME from series Perceiving, 2012
    Cloud in Small Lake II, Montville, ME from series Perceiving, 2012
  • Koichiro Kurita, A Tree at the River, Catskill, NY, 2006
    A Tree at the River, Catskill, NY, 2006
  • Koichiro Kurita, Wind, Catskill, NY from series "Perceiving", 2005
    Wind, Catskill, NY from series "Perceiving", 2005
  • Koichiro Kurita, A Piece, Catskill, New York, 2003
    A Piece, Catskill, New York, 2003
  • Koichiro Kurita, Distance, Catskill, New York, 2003
    Distance, Catskill, New York, 2003
  • Koichiro Kurita, Flood, Catskills, NY, 2003
    Flood, Catskills, NY, 2003
  • Koichiro Kurita, Evening Breeze, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 2001
    Evening Breeze, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 2001
  • Koichiro Kurita, Position, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 2001
    Position, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 2001
  • Koichiro Kurita, Spill, White Sands, New Mexico, 2001
    Spill, White Sands, New Mexico, 2001
  • Koichiro Kurita, Floating Leaves, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1999
    Floating Leaves, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1999
  • Koichiro Kurita, Crystal, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
    Crystal, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
  • Koichiro Kurita, Fenske Lake, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
    Fenske Lake, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
  • Koichiro Kurita, Snow, Stone & River, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
    Snow, Stone & River, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
  • Koichiro Kurita, Stones in the Lake, Lake Superior, Minnesota, 1998
    Stones in the Lake, Lake Superior, Minnesota, 1998
  • Koichiro Kurita, Vortex, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
    Vortex, Boundary Water Canoe Area, Minnesota, 1998
  • Koichiro Kurita, Summer Grass, Lozere, France, 1996
    Summer Grass, Lozere, France, 1996
  • Koichiro Kurita, Chesapeake, Chesapeake, Virginia, 1991
    Chesapeake, Chesapeake, Virginia, 1991
  • Koichiro Kurita, Fall, Mystic, Connecticut, 1991
    Fall, Mystic, Connecticut, 1991
  • Koichiro Kurita, Great Meadows, Concord, Massachusetts, 1990
    Great Meadows, Concord, Massachusetts, 1990
  • Koichiro Kurita, Concord River, Concord, Massachusetts, 1989
    Concord River, Concord, Massachusetts, 1989
Overview
"With my work, I am able to reconfirm my proto-identity in nature. I think that this is the most important matter for us at this time." - Koichiro Kurita
Koichiro Kurita, known for his large format platinum works, has been photographing landscapes and subjects in nature for more than 25years. He studied perceptual psychology and used camera for his experimental research when he was a college student in Kobe Japan. In the mid-1980s, Kurita read Thoreau’s Walden and deeply impressed by its message of living a life close to one’s natural environment. He quit a successful career in commercial photography in Tokyo and embarked on a new path as a landscape and nature photographer. He came to the US in 1990 as a grantee of Asian Cultural Council Foundation (a part of J.D. Rockefeller III Fund). Kurita sees in terms of “Chi Sui Ki” (1986-2006), or earth, water and air, and the borders that each of these shares with one another and ourselves. He created large scale of traditional platinum/palladium printing on handmade gampi paper. And “Perceiving” (2005-2010) series, this idea from perceptual psychology, Kurita’s multi-paneled compositions were shot a different perspective, yet together these separate fields of vision give the impression of one continuous impression, emphasizing the “Chi Sui KI” within the greater world of nature.
Biography
"I encountered Thoreau’s Walden in 1985 when I was a commercial photographer. I was inspired the by the freedom of the spirit and pursued fine art photography." - Koichiro Kurita

Kurita’s current project, Beyond Spheres (2010 -2017) is a photographic art project that is inspired by his two mentors and predecessors, William Henry Fox Talbot and Henry David Thoreau. This project is based in homage to Talbot’s invention of photography and a long journey inspiration from Thoreau. “What if Thoreau had been a photographer? ” Through the photography, Kurita explores visual journey to understand Thoreau’s perceptions and philosophy with the idea of harmonious relationship between man and nature. Employing with calotype (Talbotype paper negative process), invented in1841 by Talbot, photography pioneer in England and Thoreau’s contemporaries, Kurita creates salted paper prints and albumen prints on hand coated gampi paper. 

 

Koichiro Kurita's works have been exhibited internationally and collected by numerous museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harvard Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the George Eastman Museum, the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, the Biblioteque Nationale de France, Paris, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and many others. Public Collection 

 

Selected Collections

Museum of fine Arts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts.

The National Museum of Modern Arts, Tokyo Japan.

Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, Texas.

Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, Los Angeles, California.

Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo Ohio.

Baltimore Museum of Arts, Baltimore, MD

International Museum of Photography Gorge Eastman House, Rochester, New York.

Princeton University Museum of Art, Princeton, New.Jarsey.

Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California.

Brooklyn Museum of Arts, New York, New York.

Santa Barbara Museum of Arts, Santa Barbara,.Carlifornia.

Chrysler Art Museum, Norfolk, Viarginia.

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut.

Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum, Providence, Lhod Island.

Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York.

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Meine.

Maison de Europienne de la Photographie, Paris France.  

Biblioteque Nationale de France, Paris France.

Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo Japan.  

Tokyo Polytecnics University,Tokyo Japan.

Lasalle National Bank, Chicago, Illinois.

Bergacom, Brussele, Kingdom of Belgium.