Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

‘The Passenger’s Present’ at Light Work

Thursday, March 17, 2016, By News Staff
Share

Light Work will present “The Passenger’s Present,” featuring the work of Miki Soejima, on view in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light Work from March 21 through July 22. A reception and lecture with Soejima will take place on Wednesday, March 23, from 5-7 p.m. at Light Work and a public lecture at 6 p.m. Refreshments will be served at the reception. Also on view is “Site/Sight” in the Light Work Hallway Gallery.

Miki Soejima, “A6M Zero”

Miki Soejima, “A6M Zero”

With her photographic projects, Japanese artist Soejima walks the line between fact and fiction, uncovering the inherent artifice and truths in images, the significance of authorship and the power of suspended disbelief.

Soejima elaborated her latest project during her Light Work residency last year. “The Passenger’s Present” combines photographs made in Japan in 2013 and 2014 with constructed still life images. Together, they allude to narratives, histories and myths beneath the surface of Japanese society. They include images of a Kamikaze plane, a nuclear reactor, city street scenes and reappearing rainbows. Soejima composed the still lifes in the studio with carefully folded paper abstractions. Some include small red spheres, which add weight among the light paper compositions, especially if one recognizes them as Atomic FireBalls, the American hard candy named after the atomic bomb.

For a viewer, it’s a not a simple or even a singular story. Soejima invites us along as she finds significant moments in the movement of contemporary life and within the stillness of the paper compositions. “I think my core interest lies in how narrative context can shape our way of seeing the world and affect how we act,” says Soejima. We must listen closely to her photographs.

As a third component, Soejima integrates images from her grandfather’s photo albums, made while he served in Japanese-occupied Manchuria from 1931-1945. She quotes his solemn declaration: “There is nothing to believe anymore.” This project’s underlying tension is war’s immeasurable devastation. Soejima’s images carry a feeling of hopelessness too. Even the recurring rainbows are somehow disconcerting. Soejima’s pictures probe deep into everyday moments where careful looking uncovers both beauty and a very real sadness.

Born in 1980 in Japan, Soejima started working with photographs after completing her studies in cultural anthropology at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan, which included a one-year exchange program at the University of Westminster in London. She then moved to London and learned photographic practice at the London College of Communication. She is the winner of the 2012 First Book Award, set up by MACK and the National Media Museum, Bradford, and her book “Mrs. Merryman’s Collection” was published by MACK in 2012. She was nominated for the Ihei Kimura award in 2013 and the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2014 and 2015. Her second book, “The Passenger’s Present,” is going to be published by MACK.

Her work has been exhibited widely in Europe and in the U.S., including: The Kraszna-Kraus Book Award and The First Book Award at Media Space, Science Museum, London, in 2015; “Truth, Facts, Fictions, Lies” at PhotoIreland Festival, Dublin, in 2014; “From Here On,” curated by Joan Fontcuberta, Erik Kessels, Martin Parr, Joachim Schmid and Clément Chéroux at Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona, in 2013; and “Mrs. Merryman’s Collection” at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, in 2013

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Student Innovations Shine at 2025 Invent@SU Presentations
    Thursday, June 26, 2025, By Alex Dunbar
  • Iran Escalation: Experts Available This Week
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By News Staff
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey

More In Arts & Culture

Swinging Into Summer: Syracuse International Jazz Fest Returns With Star Power, Student Talent and a Soulful Campus Finale

Get ready for the sweet summer sounds of jazz in the city and on campus. The University is again a sponsor of the Syracuse International Jazz Fest, a five-day celebration of world-class jazz music and community spirit, taking place June…

Retiring University Professor and Decorated Public Servant Sean O’Keefe G’78 Reflects on a Legacy of Service

For most of his time as a public servant, Sean O’Keefe G’78 adhered to a few guiding principles: Step up when someone calls upon you to serve. Be open to anything. Challenge yourself. Those values helped O’Keefe navigate a career…

Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26

The School of Architecture has announced that architect Tiffany Xu is the Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025–26. Xu will succeed current fellow, Erin Cuevas and become the tenth fellow at the school. The Boghosian Fellowship at the School of…

Jorge Morales ’26 Named a 2025 Beinecke Scholar

Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…

Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G

Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.