Takashi Arai first encountered photography while he was a university student of biology. In an effort to trace photography to its origins, he encountered daguerreotype, and after much trial and error mastered the complex technique. Arai does not see daguerreotype as a nostalgic reproduction of a classical method; instead, he has made it his own personal medium, finding it a reliable device for storing memory that is far better for recording and transmitting interactions with his subjects than modern photography. Arai’s work has appeared in numerous exhibitions, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mori Art Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, among other international venues. In 2016, he received the 41st Kimura Ihei Award for his first monograph "MONUMENTS"(PGI, 2015). Arai is also the winner of Source-Cord Prize (2014), UK, and Photographic Society of Japan Awards: Newcomer's Award (2016). His works are held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and Musée Guimet, among others.

Publications

- “MONUMENTS” Photo Gallery International, 2015.
- “EXPOSE Issue” 2014.
- “Here and There, Ashita no Shima (Tomorrow’s Islands)” Photographs Collection, KAGAMI, 1 July 2012.
-“Shujitsuroku Yori” Essay, Private Edition, 2012.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015 The call of Tono,Timeless Gallery, Beijing. 
2014  Dragon’s Scales - Our Monuments for the Atomic Age, Tokyo Metropolitan Daigo Fukuryu Maru ExhibitionHall, Tokyo.
2014 EXPOSED in a Hundred Suns, Photo Gallery International, Tokyo.
2013 D-type Story, Timeless Gallery, Beijing.
2013 Exposed in a Hundred Suns Amagasaki Cultural Center, Hyogo. Sponsor: Amagasaki Cultural Center
2013 Flowers in Equinoctials, Kurenbo, Tokyo. Sponsor: Chohouin Buddhist Temple
2013 Here and There - Ashita no Shima (Tomorrow’s Islands), Meijokan Gallery, Minamisoma, Fukushima. Sponsor:Minamisoma City
2013 Expose 2012: Exposed in a Hundred Suns, Ken, Tokyo. Sponsor: Awazu Design Room
2012 Eyes of Fukushima - Mirrors Half Asleep - Takashi Arai Contemporary Daguerreotypes, Maruki Museum (TheMaruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels), Saitama. Sponsor: Maruki Museum
2012 Here and There - Ashita no Shima (Tomorrow’s Islands), Nikon Salon, Tokyo, Osaka. Sponsor: Nikon.
2011 Dream of Image, Timeless Gallery, Beijing. Sponsor: Timeless Gallery.
2011 Mirrors in Our Nights, Kawasaki City Museum, Kawasaki. Sponsor: Kawasaki City Museum.
2011 Lights, Water, Conglomerate, Meiji University Gallery Zero, Kawasaki. Curator: Shino Kuraishi, MeijiUniversity.
2009 Flawless Lakes, Project Basho, Philadelphia. Curator: Tsuyoshi Ito
2007 Toward Lakes, engawa, HayamamachiCurator: Hitomi Kintani, Roundish inc.
2007 Half Mirror, Space Gallery Roundish, Osaka, Curator: Hitomi Kintani, Roundish inc.
2006 Rendezvous on Mirror, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Curator: Junichi Seki, Yokohama Museum of Art
2001 Ocean Distilled , Cafa Cabiria, Tokyo

Selected Group Exhibitions

2016 Dubai Photo, D3 Design District, Dubai.
2016 Imagine Fukushima, Court Gallery Kunitachi, Tokyo. *Hosted by Watermark Arts & Crafts
2015 To What End?, Camera Austria, Graz
2015 In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respondto3/11, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
2014 Photography Will Be, Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya.
2014 Words and Photographs: the Seeds of Remembrance, Setagaya Lifestyle Design Center, Tokyo.
2013-2014 Roppongi Crossing 2013: OUT OF DOUBT , Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
2013 IO-1: Image Object Exhibit , The Center for Alternative Photography, NYC.
2012 OVER THE REALITY , Gallery Terra Tokyo.
2012 Photography Today 4, MOMAT (The National Museum of Modern Art), Tokyo. Sponsor: MOMAT.
2011 EXPOSE / FALLOUT ,KEN Tokyo.Sponsor.KEN/Awqzu Design Office
2011 Portrait Studio in Museum, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama. Sponsor: Yokohama Museum of Art, CP+2011. Cooperation: Photographers’ Association of Yokohama City.
2010 Immemorial Foreseeing, Fellini Gallery, Shanghai, China. Curator: Kumiko Odaka aditi
2009 Héritages de Daguerre, Exposition en France de Daguerréotypes contemporains internationaux et Diorama deBry-sur-Marne,
Bry-sur-Marne, France. Curator: Marc Kereun, Association Louis Daguerre.
2007 City Panoramic, san art, Ho Chi Minn City, Curator: Tiffany Chung
2004 Yojo no Uki, Hanano Ikada Buoys on the Water, Rafts of Petals, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Yokohama
2003 Aria, Hiyoshi Art and Performance Project, Keio University, Yokohama


Awards

2016
The 41st Kimura Ihei Award, Japan.
2014
First Prize,The Source-Cord Prize, UK.
2013
First Prize, Image Object Exhibit, The Center for Alternative Photography, NYC.

Collections

-The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
-The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
-Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography-Musée Français de la Photographie- Musée Guimet
-Musée Adrien Mentienne, Bry sur Marne

Books from Takashi ARAI