Yoshihiko Ueda: Quinault

Yoshihiko Ueda's photo book "QUINAULT" is a seminal work from the early to mid-1990s, capturing a turning point in his career as a photographer. Set in the pristine forests of Washington State, named "virgin forest" by Native Americans, the images, captured with an 8x10 large format camera, convey the dense humidity, silence, and the profound depths of a forest where life and death intertwine.

Ueda was deeply drawn to this forest, which he discovered while searching for locations for portrait photography. Day after day, he wandered through the forest, carrying his equipment, taking photographs in search of "something that dwells in the forest." This experience culminated in "portraits of trees" that transcended mere landscape depiction, serving as an opportunity to re-examine the fundamental power of photography.

The plates in this book are an attempt to capture not nature as an object, but the invisible presence and "power" itself, evoking a strong physical sensation in the viewer. As Ueda himself describes it as "the beginning of photography," the birth of "new photography" is imprinted here.

Subsequently, his experiences in this forest led to his photography in Yakushima and culminated in the photo book "Materia." The high-quality binding, which echoes the beauty and tension of the plates, is also a major appeal of this book, making it a volume where photography and materiality are intertwined at a high level.

The first edition was published by Kyoto Shoin in 1993. It was later reissued by Seigensha in 2003.
A foundational and representative work by Yoshihiko Ueda. The book design is by Kaoru Kasai.

[Title] Quinault
[Publisher] Seigensha
[Publication Date] 1993 (First Edition)
[Number of Pages] Unpaged
[Size] Approx. 260*366*19mm

[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese, English
[Title Reading] Kuinoruto
[Author/Editor] Yoshihiko Ueda/Author, Kyoichi Tsuzuki/Editor, Kaoru Kasai/Design
[Printing] Kyoto Shoin/Printing
[ISBN]

9784763686046
[Condition] Used [4] Fair to Below Average (Tanned/stained edges, minor edge damage, minor cover scratches)
[Accessories] -
[Featured In] -
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Yoshihiko Ueda (Ueda, Yoshihiko) 1957‐

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1957, currently residing in Kanagawa Prefecture.
After graduating from Osaka School of Photography (now Osaka Visual Arts College) in 1979, he apprenticed under Masanobu Fukuda and Yasuto Arita, becoming independent in 1982. He has developed his artistic practice alongside his advertising photography, earning high acclaim both domestically and internationally as one of Japan's leading photographers.

In the early 1990s, his representative work "QUINAULT" (1993), which captured the sacred forests of Native Americans, marked a significant shift in his photographic expression. Since then, he has released a wide range of works, from portraits to landscapes, including "AMAGATSU" (1995), which captured avant-garde dancer Ushio Amagatsu, "at Home" (2006), which focused on his family, and "Materia" (2012), which delved into the essence of life. In recent years, he has published "FOREST Impressions and Memories 1989–2017" (2018), "68TH STREET" (2018), "Māter" (2022), and "Itsudemo Yume wo" (2023).

His numerous awards include the Photographic Society of Japan Award for Artist (2014), Tokyo ADC Award, and New York ADC Award. He served as the director of Gallery 916 from 2011 to 2018, and as a professor at Tama Art University from 2014 to 2025. In 2021, he directed, wrote, and photographed the film "The Garden of Camellias," expanding his activities beyond the realm of photography.

His works are housed in institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, New Mexico Arts, and Hermès International.

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Yoshihiko Ueda