Carson City, Nevada, 1983
Gelatin Silver print
Sheet size 11 × 14 inches
Image size 9 × 11 ⅜ inches
Edition of 5
September 21, 2026
Toshio Shibata's pictures always achieve an intriguing mix of rich detail and minimalist abstraction. This print is among Shibata’s earliest photographic works, presenting a rare opportunity to observe the themes and strategies that would shape his career at their embryonic stage—appearing in a form that is both familiar and different.
The image shows the clear influence of “New Topographics" photographers like Robert Adams, who depicted the intrusion of human-made elements into the landscapes of the American West. Shibata would expand on these ideas fruitfully in the decades to come by exploring the unique intersection of engineering and the Japanese landscape.
Shibata’s embrace of nighttime photography in his early work makes these structures feel even more disconnected from their surroundings. His images of expressway toll booths and rest stops look like they could have been shot on a lunar base, and this image of carnival rides in motion delves even deeper into science fiction. His use of a long exposure—which in his best-known work transforms rushing water into sculptural forms—renders the spinning carnival rides as glowing saucers in the sky.
