Satoru Yoshioka Photo Exhibit "'Why do we exist?"

Why do we exist?

Sometimes, people speculate about what’s inside a high-fenced laboratory. They wonder what kind of experiments are taking place there.

While taking a trip to the world of high-energy physics, I photographed the inside of these research institutes by sunlight during the day and by artificial light during the night. I captured the general scenery and buildings, the streets and daily working spaces, and the experimental devices new and old.

A laboratory continues to change day and night. Even if we don’t see any changes, the research institute visited today is a different place than it was yesterday.

Why do we exist?

Why is the universe made of matter and not antimatter?

By smashing infinitesimally small particles together, scientists are trying to answer these fundamental questions.

Satoru Yoshioka

Born in Kochi Prefecture, Japan in 1963. Since 2005, Satoru Yoshioka has been visiting high energy physics laboratories around the globe.

In 2006, he started photographing SLAC / Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (now SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) in California, USA.

Over the past several years, he has photographed in the United States, Japan, Germany and Switzerland.

Photographed laboratories

• CERN / European Organization for Nuclear Research (Swizerland)
• SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (California, USA)
• KEK / High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (Ibaraki, Japan)
• J-PARC / Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (Ibaraki, Japan)
• FNAL / Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Illinois, USA)
• BNL / Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY)
• Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Univ. of Tokyo (Gifu, Japan)
• Research Center for Neutrino Science, Mozumi, Tohoku University (Miyagi, Japan)
• SPring-8 / Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute（Hyogo, Japan）
• DESY / Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (Hamburg, Germany)

Download the poster for the exhibit