Shin Sugino

Born in 1946, Shin Sugino was raised by Jesuits in Osaka, Japan. At 19 he emigrated to Canada to study Photography, Illustration and Cinema at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. He began his career as a Fine Art Photographer, supplementing it as a Lecturer in the Fine Arts Department of Toronto's York University. From 1980-1986 he narrowed his focus, specializing as a Freelance Stills Photographer for feature film production in Canada, U.S.A., Spain and Austria. In 1986 he began his extraordinarily successful advertising photography studio, Sugino & Associates. He pioneered digital shooting and imaging in Toronto in 1995. Beyond fine art and commercial photography he has expanded his repertoire to include directing live action TV commercials.



Shin's editorial work has appeared in Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Camera Canada, Camera Mainichi, and in the Time-Life Photography Book Series. His commercial clients include: General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Kodak, Fuji, Nikon, Nike, Levi's, Telus, IBM, Panasonic, Guinness, Carlsberg, Gilbey's, Labatt, Absolut Vodka, VISA, and many more.



Shin has won almost countless awards internationally. He has claimed advertising gold at Cannes in 1998 and again in 2002. Other acclaim has come from The One Show, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada, Applied Arts, Photo District News, Communication Arts and Archive, plus many more. His work is represented in collections of the National Film Board, National Archives, Ontario Arts Council, Banff School of Fine Art and myriad private collections.



Despite the escalating demands on his time Shin has never forsaken his personal work; the last several years have been devoted to the wet collodion process. This is the first time in 23 years he has decided to stage a solo exhibition. Shin continues to teach and lecture worldwide.