Fascinated by the questions of time and memory in photography, Hiroshi Sugimoto is interested in expressing his own vision of the world through the lens of his camera. With this idea in mind, he started the Theaters series in 1976, in New York, at the Saint Marks theater, with a period of exposure corresponding to the length of the movie, i.e. 170 000 images gathered in one single photograph. The result is a white halo emanating from the screen which lights up the theater.

For forty years, Sugimoto has photographed theaters and drive-ins throughout the world following the same protocol, thus creating a feeling of timelessness.

Sugimoto develops in a new essay, his approach pervaded with philosophy, spirituality and the history of ancient civilizations shedding light on his conceptual exploration of the photographic medium.