Pascal Harris - 'Tokyo, July 4, 2023' - Photospace Gallery, 16 February to 9 March 2024

Photo: Pascal Harris, from 'Tokyo, July 4, 2023' series

I went to a show in Toyko last year.
One of my friends was showing his photos.
He'd made a photobook to go along with them.
I liked this idea, so I determined that I would make a photobook too.
I only had about a week left, then I had to return to NZ before my visa ran out.
So, one day, I decided that I would take as many good photos as I could
and make this into a photobook.
This is that day.

I was staying in a place called Nakano-Shimbashi,
which is where I had my first job teaching English many years ago.
I hadn't been back there in at least 10 years.
The little English School, run by two Australian brothers, was in the basement of a building,
round the corner from the station.
I remember my first time going there, being unable to find it and asking for help at the convenience store.
The girl at the convenience store walked with me round the corner into the office building where on 
one of the letter boxes a small sticker was placed with the name of the school 'Friends'.
Now, the English School was no longer there. It had gone bankrupt soon after I left.
Coming back here after all those years, my intense love for Japan came rushing back at me, full force.

This day was a hot summer day, just like any other. 
I made my way to Shinjuku, one of the main city centres. 
On the way I passed gas stations, daycare centres, mechanical workshops...
then gradually as I approached closer towards Shinjuku more people started appearing.
I felt the closeness of my relationship with the camera.
The camera became like an extension of myself.
Rather than looking for anything special,
it was a document of my steps and my senses.
This day too, wasn't anything special.
Just a hot summer day, like any other.

Photo: Pascal Harris, from 'Tokyo, July 4, 2023' series

Artist bio

Pascal Harris was born in Dunedin and grew up in a family of artists. He studied music at the University of Otago and then at the Royal College of Music, London. He has played concerts as a pianist for many years and released two CDs of Schubert Impromptus and Mozart Sonatas.
Harris lived in Tokyo for several years and developed an obsession with photography there. Since returning to New Zealand he has had several photography exhibitions and more recently has exhibited 
assemblages and sculptural work involving found objects.

Currently he has an exhibition on at Gallery 85 in Whanganui 'Caring for the Lost Body', which is the result of an artist residency at the Glasgow Art Centre, Whanganui in August 2023 and January 2024.
In April, Harris will have an exhibition at Tata Bookshop / Gallery in Tokyo and will also start a course in Fashion Design at Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo.

Pascal's brother Felix Harris will be exhibiting recent paintings in gallery room 1, next door, opening on the same evening. (His exhibition is under our Gilberd Marriott Gallery brand, for artists working in mediums other than photography.)

Photo: Pascal Harris, from 'Tokyo, July 4, 2023' series

Exhibition poster for 'Tokyo, July 4, 2023' exhibition by Pascal Harris, Photospace Gallery Feb-March 2024