Thanh Hoa Whiteware Bowl, Ly-Tran Dynasty, 13th-14th c., Vietnam, 60 x 120 cm. Copyright Eric J. Zetterquist, 2021
Asia Week New York x SIGMA Foundation Presents
The Art and Craft of Photography: From Asian Traditions to Contemporary Practice
Thursday, March 12 at 6:30pm (ET)
Seizan Gallery
525 West 26th Street
Free and open to all
Get a first look at Asia Week New York! In colloration with SIGMA Foundation, join us for an exclusive preview event that kicks off the celebrations and sets the stage for an extraordinary week of art, culture, and inspiration!
Join us for an engaging discussion on the evolution of photographic practice—from its historical foundations to today’s bold contemporary innovations. This panel brings together artists, a curator, and an industry expert to explore how photography has developed over time, highlighting the influence of Japanese and Asian traditions on modern work and its role in a global context today.
Panelists will delve into the interplay of tradition and experimentation, the impact of photographic technology on artistic vision, and the curatorial opportunities and challenges of presenting Japanese photography to international audiences. From postwar photo narratives to contemporary abstraction, this lively conversation will illuminate the enduring dialogue between history, craft, and creative reinvention.
Start the celebration of Asia Week New York with us and sign up today!
Kindly RSVP to [email protected]
The Distinguished Panel of Experts Include:
Gen Aihara, Artist
Aihara is a Japanese photographer whose work explores the relationship between materiality, light, and abstraction. In his earliest works with photograms, one of the earliest photographic processes, Aihara created images by placing and manipulating elements such as water directly onto photosensitive paper and exposing them to light. Rooted in historic photographic techniques, his practice bridges past and present, transforming analog methods into a contemporary visual language. In addition to his own artistic practice, Aihara serves as production and installation manager for Hiroshi Sugimoto. This dual perspective informs his work, blending deep technical expertise with a visionary approach to contemporary photography.
Maggie Mustard, Assistant Curator of Photography, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library
Maggie is an educator, curator, and art historian specializing on the history of photography. She earned her PhD in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University, where her dissertation focused on questions of memory and photographic representation in the work of Japanese postwar photographer Kawada Kikuji. Previously, she served as Chief Curatorial Advisor for The Incomplete Araki: Sex, Life, and Death in the Works of Nobuyoshi Araki, was the Marcia Tucker Senior Research Fellow at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University. Her recent curated exhibitions at NYPL include New York Subways 1977: Alen MacWeeney and The Awe of the Arctic: A Visual History.
Kazuto Yamaki, CEO, Sigma Corporation, and Founder, Sigma Foundation
Yamaki is CEO of Sigma Corporation, a family-owned Japanese manufacturer of cameras and lenses. Appointed CEO in February 2012, he has led the company for more than a decade, overseeing the development of major new products, global growth, and numerous international design awards. In 2025, he established the Sigma Foundation, a philanthropic initiative dedicated to supporting photography as an art form and fostering new platforms for photographic expression.
Eric Zetterquist, Artist
Zetterquist draws on a millennium-old Chinese tradition of painting portraits of art objects to celebrate their beauty and the accomplishments of collectors. Following this practice, he creates portraits of Asian ceramics dating from 2500 B.C. to 1400 A.D., isolating forms and emphasizing the negative space they create. His large-scale, black-and-white images with “painterly” edges and matte textured surfaces evoke Asian calligraphy and offer what he calls “warm minimalist” abstractions. Not merely photographs of objects, Zetterquist’s work challenge their viewers to explore concepts of form and negative space in both ancient and contemporary contexts, and remind us that we are part of a human chain that stretches back through the millennia, whose core values of beauty and artistic integrity are stalwart.
Moderated by Alice Teng, Executive Director, Asia Week New York
About SIGMA Foundation
The Sigma Foundation was founded by Kazuto Yamaki, president of Sigma Corporation, to support and promote photography as an art form. Sigma is a Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses and cameras. A deep respect for the arts guides Sigma’s engineering, as the company continues to develop and innovate products that support the passion of artists. As part of their commitment to supporting the arts, Sigma Foundation collaborates with artists from around the world to produce and showcase their work, regardless of whether they use Sigma products. To learn more, click here.