At first glance, Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographic portrait of King Henry VIII of England is arresting: his camera has captured the tactility of Henry’s luxurious furs and silks, the elaborate embroidery of his doublet, and the light reflecting off of each shimmering jewel. The contours of the king’s face are so lifelike that he appears to be almost threedimensional. It seems as though the twenty-first century artist has traveled back in time nearly five hundred years to photograph his royal subject. While Sugimoto’s portraits of historical figures appear to capture a lived moment in time, they are fictions. These portraits are in fact at least twice removed from the subject: his photograph captures a wax figure that has been created by a sculptor from either a photographic portrait or a painted one. The portraits of wax figures, which in this volume are presented alongside a handful of portraits of living subjects and memento mori, call into question what it is the portrait captures. As with his other major bodies of work—'Dioramas', 'Seascapes', 'Theaters'—Sugimoto’s 'Portraits' address the passage of time and history. We take it for granted that a photograph of a living subject is true, but what does that mean?

Born in Tokyo in 1948, Sugimoto left Japan in 1970 after graduating from Rikkyo University with a degree in economics. He traveled throughout the Soviet Union and Europe and then moved to Los Angeles, where he studied photography at the Art Center College of Design. His work has been exhibited internationally in group and solo shows, and he was the recipient of the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography in 2001 and the Mainichi Art Prize in 1988. He currently lives in New York and Tokyo.

Shipments are made worldwide by express courier.

Delivery is expected within 7 working days after registration of payment.

Shipping costs vary depending on the weight of the shipment and the country of destination, and are calculated automatically when the order is placed.

Pursuant to Article 5 of Legislative Decree No. 185 of 22 May 1999, if the customer is a consumer (i.e. a natural person who purchases goods for purposes not related to his or her professional activity, or who makes a purchase by omitting a VAT number from the order form), he or she has the right to withdraw from the purchase contract for any reason whatsoever, without the need to provide explanations and without any penalty, within 14 working days from the day of receipt of the goods.

The right of withdrawal shall be exercised by sending, within the aforementioned term, a written notice to the geographical address of the supplier's registered office by means of a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. The communication may also be sent, again within the same deadline, by means of a PEC or facsimile.
The consumer shall enclose with the communication all the references of the order (order date, order number, precise references identifying the party concerned, company or private individual.
The goods you wish to return must be undamaged and in their original packaging.

The consumer must also supplement the communication with his or her complete bank details in order to obtain reimbursement of the sums paid (current account number, ABI and CAB, CIN code; for foreign countries, the BIC and IBAN codes), which will be carried out as quickly as possible and in any case within fourteen days of the date on which the supplier became aware of the consumer's exercise of the right of withdrawal. As the only charge for exercising the right of withdrawal, the consumer shall bear the direct cost of returning the goods. In the case of payment by credit card, the sums shall be returned net of bank commission charges (2.5%).

In the event of a dispute, reference will be made to the competent court.