Day Off in Kyoto

The Opening Reception of Luminous at Dohjidai Gallery in Kyoto on April 21st, 2026. The group of 18 artists included many from Samurai Foto, my BAPC friends, plus our curator Deborah Klochko.

I had a day off in Kyoto, but never thought about Phoebe Bridgers’ song. Being upside down time-wise yet wired on caffeine helped me to see things differently.

I was in Kyoto to participate in a group photography exhibition called Luminous, curated by Deborah Klochko, Director Emeritus of the Museum of Photographic Arts, and organized by our friends at Samurai Foto, a fine art photography group based in Japan. My photography group, BAPC, hosted Samurai Foto in a 2024 exhibition and we will host them again in January 2027.  

A few hours after we arrived, we installed my images at Dohjidai, a 98-year-old gallery located in the bustling city center. Luminous was one of dozens of KG+ exhibitions underway across the city. KG+ happens during Kyotographie, one of the world’s leading fine art photography festivals. This year, the festival featured the work of one of my favorite photographers, Daido Moriyama. I’m particularly grateful for the efforts of Samurai Foto’s Shigeru Yoshida, along with my BAPC friends Ari Salomon, who also had an impressive solo show called Burn Line, Gene Dominique, Ingo Bork, and Henry Bowles.

I’ll take any excuse to experience Japan, but this exhibition also marked the first public presentation of my Bayshore work. Our curator kindly selected six nocturnal images, which are winging their way back to me as I write this in mid-May. I didn’t see or experience all the major galleries, museums, and food in Kyoto, Osaka, or Tokyo, though I haunted a few good craft coffee joints and brought back some beans. Gotta go back.