1977 Hiroshi Sugimoto – Trylon, New York

The Visible Silence of Cinematic Light – Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Trylon, New York

In 1977, Hiroshi Sugimoto redefined the parameters of photographic exposure. Positioning his large-format camera within a cinema, he opened the shutter for the full duration of a film’s projection. Every frame — thousands of moving images — was absorbed into a single, continuous exposure, producing a screen of pure, white radiance.

This process transformed motion into stillness. What had once been a sequence of fleeting cinematic moments became an enduring field of light, framed by the fixed geometry of the theatre. In Trylon, New York, the photographic act extends beyond observation to encompass measurement — the full duration of a film captured as one luminous record. The result is an image that reveals not the film itself, but the physical phenomenon of light as time made visible.

Credit: © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Lisson Gallery
Author: Hiroshi Sugimoto
Title: Trylon, New York
Date: 1977
Archive: (no archival credit required, per correspondence)
Source: Courtesy of the artist, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Lisson Gallery
Physical Original: Gelatin silver print, size variable
Available Information: Part of Sugimoto’s Theaters series, printed on gelatin silver paper. The photograph depicts the Trylon cinema screen illuminated by a single feature-length projection, resulting in a radiant, white void — a distilled image of cinematic time.

Additional credits (left to right): Image 1: Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tri City Drive-In, San Bernardino, 1993. Gelatin silver print. © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Lisson Gallery. Image 2: Hiroshi Sugimoto, Self-Portrait, 2019. Gelatin silver print. © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Lisson Gallery.