Speech by Mr. Toshiyuki TAKAGI,
Board of Directors, Asahi Shimbun

Your Excellency Ambassador Howard Baker, Dr. Istvan Perosa, Charge d’Affaires of the Hungarian Embassy, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for coming to the opening reception of “Tamas Revesz Photo Exhibition– New York”. I would like to say a word representing the Asahi Shimbun.

Mr. Tamas Revesz was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1946. He is now a photographer and designer based in New York. He has won the Pulitzer Memorial Prize in 1997, and has been having his one man show in many places around the world.

He was been awarded in the World Press Photo, and has also been the jury, some ten years ago, which exhibition is currently going on at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, organized by Asahi Shimbun, as well.

We are showing here, 62 photographs of Mr. Revesz, from his book “New York” which he published in the year 2000, with his photographs of various scenes of the City of New York.

This exhibition was realized starting with the suggestion of Mr. Yoshio Murakami, who was Board Director and former American Bureau Chief of Asahi Shimbun, and also with the support of the New York – Tokyo Sister City program.

In Mr. Revesz’s work, here, you will see a perfect match of the landscape, the people, and their daily lives, in every scene. I am hoping that you all would feel and appreciate the sensitive style of Mr. Revesz’s photographs, which is sometimes sharp but warm at the same time.

Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to those who had been supportive, namely the Embassy of the U.S., the Embassy of Hungary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the associations from TV Asahi, the sponsors, SONOKO, Coca Cola Japan, Bunkado Printing Company, Kodak Japan, and many other staff of TV Asahi Production.

UMU Gallery,
Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
JULY 22, 2004