How does history reveal itself? This seems to be the essence of Yoneda's series Scene. The geographical range of this work extends across Europe, Asia, the Middle East to South America. Predominantly landscapes, some beautiful and uplifting, others with overcast skies suggesting menacing undercurrents. She has chosen to visit sites associated with human catastrophe: First and Second World Wars, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Korean War, the Bosnian War and the Lebanon War. Yoneda is asking the viewer to slow down and look more deeply and consider what is rendered in the photographic image and then read the accompanying written text.  With this new knowledge, the viewer has to reconsider the scene. Hidden or forgotten, stories are brought into view with the realization that the photographs depict sites of terror. This brings-to-mind the writings of the renowned Japanese swordsman and philosopher Miyamoto Musashi* (1584–1645), known for simultaneously using two swords in battle. In his book The Book of Five Rings, Musashi writes about the use strategy in warfare. One remark in the book stands out, “perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.” 

(Adapted excerpt from Paul Wombell’s text The Chrysanthemum and the Camera, published in the book “Tomoko Yoneda” by the MAPFRE Foundation. Madrid 2021).

Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) is renowned primarily as a Japanese swordsman, but his contributions extend into the realm of philosophy and strategy, especially through his writings such as The Book of Five Rings and Dokkōdō.

The nature of her art-making has taken Yoneda to places where people’s memories are still strongly ingrained. Yoneda probes into historical facts embedded in specific locations and objects through her photography, which recalls memories behind each scene.

Tomoko Yoneda

Hill – Hill made of rubble after allied bombing, Berlin, Germany, 2000
chromogenic print, 76 × 96 cm
Courtesy of the artist´

Tomoko Yoneda

Path—Path to the cliff where Japanese committed suicide after the American landings, Saipan, 2003
chromogenic print, 76 × 96 cm
Courtesy of the artist

Tomoko Yoneda

Beach—Location of the D-Day Normandy Landings, Sword Beach, France 2002, 2002
chromogenic print, 76 × 96 cm
Courtesy of the artist

Tomoko Yoneda

Wedding—View of the wedding party on the river that divides North Korea and China, Dandong, China, 2006
chromogenic print, 76 × 96 cm
Courtesy of the artist

 Selected exhibitions: Remembrance Beyond Images, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, JP (2024); World Classroom, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, JP (2023); Echoes―Crashing waves, ShguoArts, Tokyo, JP (2022); Tomoko Yoneda, Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, ES (2021); 12th Shanghai Biennale 2018, Shanghai, CN (2018–19); SeMA Biennale, Mediacity Seoul, Seoul, KR (2014); The 10th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, KR (2014); We shall meet in place where there is no darkness, Himeji City Museum of Art, Hyogo, JP (2014) / Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, JP (2013); 52. Venice Biennale, Venice, IT, 2007.

Tomoko Yoneda was born in 1965 in Hyogo/JP and she lives and works in London, UK.