Kunsthalle Nürnberg presents the first institutional solo exhibition in Germany by the Japanese photographer Naoya Hatakeyama (born in 1958) in close co-operation with the Kunstverein Hannover. Since the mid 80s the artist has developed a large number of photo series showing landscapes and places that are marked by industrialisation and globalisation.

Whether they be the limestone quarries and factory plants near his birthplace Iwate, sewers below the city of Tokyo, or rows of terrace houses in English suburbs, the unifying theme of Hatakeyama's photographs is an environment that humankind has created but from which it is now absent.

The urban and rural images discovered with the camera contain both surreal and archaic aspects. Limestone slag heaps resemble a stage-lit temple, the deep spaces between skyscapers resemble natural gorges and the passageways of underground sewers are transformed into eerily lit caves. Hatakeyama is not only a master in the use of light, he can also capture the instant of an explosion, as shown in the series Blast, bringing time to an absolute standstill. Architecture and nature appear both remote and close, bewitchingly beautiful backdrops in a strangely unreal world.