Shun Sugiyama is a photographer who also works in graphic design. He lives and works in Tokyo. He lived in California, and studied business, engineering and art for three years. His artwork aims to look at the little moment of every day to find what a positive connection to the world is. He hopes it supports people to live with confidence in their existence. He earned a BA in Art degree from Temple University, Japan Campus.

Part 1 : Photography

I take pictures for personal aesthetic satisfaction, to recognize that the world is full of beauty. In other words, for me, the act of photography has a tranquilizing aspect. As time has progressed, as technology has developed, as cities and neighborhoods have been cleared of forests, we have gained countless things, but as much as we have gained, we have lost something. I believe that it is a time past. From streams of water to weeds growing on the side of the road, the world is always beautiful because nothing is constant. By spending time photographing them, we preserve the beauty of the moment. A photograph is a moment in time in which I live. The photograph itself has no passage of time, but I am pursuing the feeling that every part of the image is beautiful.

Spirit of Nature

Fragment of self

Abstraction

No Sound

In 2020, just before I returned from the United States, three major pieces of news were making headlines: Joe Biden’s inauguration as the U.S. president, the spread of COVID-19, and the death of George Floyd. These three news events in quick succession turned the cities into a completely different world from the one in 2017, the year I arrived in the U.S.. Because of severe restrictions on going out, the outside world is deserted during the day, but on weekends, it becomes a bleak world due to Black Lives Matter protest activities. In the midst of all this, I myself had made the decision to quit my current university and narrow my focus to art and design.

I began this project after encountering certain questions about existence and cognition by the Irish philosopher George Berkley. “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The presence or absence of sound is no longer an issue. He realized that human perception is so ambiguous.

Two years have passed since his return. Time flew by at a dizzying pace. I walked the streets and took pictures to escape the hectic news and the noise of an ever-moving society. Usually, photographs do not contain sound. However, in these photos, which seemed to be silent, there was clearly a world of sound. The sound of silence, unaffected by anyone’s footsteps, was bliss for me. I was there, imagining. Even my own presence was not there. It should not be. It is better not to be.

This project is the complete story of the work that was born from the end of my imagination.

Solo Exhibition : No Sound of a fallen Tree

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Part 2 : Graphic Design

The reason why I am also working in graphic design is because I believe in the impact of design on people, which is strongly influenced by Amazon’s web designer, Jeffrey Preston Bezos. I strive not only to provide designs that are relevant to the client’s objectives through logical thought, but also not to ignore the impact on the viewers who see the design. I believe that design, like photography, is something that moves people’s emotions and is an important element in enriching their lives.

Logos

Zine

Posters

Web Design