Hiroshi Sugimoto

In the sixteenth century, Hans Holbein the Younger, German court painter to the British Crown,  painted several imposing and regal portraits of HenryVIII.  Based on these portrait, the highly skilled artisans of  Madame Tussaud wax museum re-created an absolutely faithful likeness of the king.  Using my own studies of the Renaissance by which the artist might have painted, I remade the royal portrait, substituting photography for painting.  If this photograph now appears lifelike to you, you should reconsider what it means to be alive here and now.

- Hiroshi Sugimoto