Burn Line at Nohga Hotel Kyoto — KG+ / GOJO+ Award - Ari Salomon: Fine Art Photography

My project Burn Line was selected as the winner of the 2nd GOJO+ Award in Kyoto, Japan. The juried award recognizes work engaging with the theme of fire, tied to the Gojo neighborhood’s history of ceramics and cremation, making it a natural fit for my charcoal-based series.

Burn Line is an ongoing project responding to the Los Angeles wildfires. The work combines photographs made at fire locations with pyrotypes—images engraved into wood and then transformed into charcoal through controlled burning. The pyrotype images originate from photographs shared by people who lost personal objects in the fires.

Together these works explore how photography can carry memory through transformation, loss, and material change.

Read artist statement (EN and JP) about the installation, with captions for each Pyrotype
“Behind the scenes” video
Burn Line: project overview

Exhibition Information

Burn Line
Exhibition #29 on the festival map.

Nohga Hotel Kiyomizu Kyoto
April 18–May 17, 2026
Open everyday, 11am-5pm
Located near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto’s historic Gojo district. (map)
Exhibition video is in lobby and main installation is downstairs in Meditation Room (take elevator to B1F) (ロビー／メディテーションルーム)

Nohga Hotel Meditation Room

My installation took place in the meditation room on the lower level of the hotel (take the elevator to B1F). Within this quiet space, I built a skeletal house structure—an architectural outline that holds the work and echoes the homes it emerges from. I think of it like the dream of a house – at once burned and not burned.

: Burn Line, Kyoto KG+, GOJO+ Award, 2026

Events

I had three informal “Meet The Artist” events in the gallery (with special charcoal-themed snacks!) from 3-5pm on April 23, April 24, and May 1.

May 3, Sunday 3-4:30pm
Evolution of the Pyrotype: The GOJO+ Award
Artist talk and conversation with Naoyuki Ogino (Director, GOJO+ AWARD).
location: Kurochiku Makura Building

“Teaser” video for KG+

Installation Images/Video

Installation time lapse part 1:

part 2 & part 3

Exhibition Video Tourr (7min) and full 29min tour

About GOJO+

GOJO+ is a series of community-based exhibitions in Kyoto’s historic Gojo district. Held under the theme “Terra, Flamma, Ars,” the program is a certified satellite of the KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival (KG+). “Earth/Flame” symbolizes the intersection of light, clay, and the human spirit.

Two exhibitions for 2026

During KG+ I will also be showing work in a group exhibition: Luminous at Dohjidai Gallery (exhibition #130 on the festival map).

This year I saw 64 of the 200+ exhibitions in the festival. Always some new treasure to discover. Check out my YouTube playlist for a few tours of favorite exhibitions. Other tours are on my Instagram.

LINKS