Isamu Sawa - Virtuosity | Phase One Corporate

When photographer Isamu Sawa stepped into the Maton Guitars factory in Melbourne, he didn’t just see a production line, he saw a transformation of soul. What began as a documentary project evolved into VIRTUOSITY, a striking series of abstract still-life images that explore the bridge between raw timber and the Master Built instruments that define Australian music heritage.

The Evolution of Vision: Beyond the Documentary

Initially, Isamu Sawa’s instinct was to capture the Maton factory through a traditional documentary lens. Watching the artisans meticulously shape raw timber into world-class acoustic instruments, the narrative of the workshop felt clear. However, as a photographer whose practice is rooted in the structure and hidden beauty of objects, Sawa felt a pull toward something deeper.

“Documentation alone didn’t reflect my visual language”, Sawa explains. “I found myself drawn to the detail, the discipline and technical refinement that mirrors my own Japanese heritage. I wanted to rethink the guitar not just as a tool for music, but as a subject rich with form, texture, and sculptural potential.”

The Architecture of Music

At the heart of the project is the Maton Master Built T.E. Personal, a model handcrafted in collaboration with guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel. To honor its significance, Sawa deconstructed the “build journey.”

He isolated individual components, raw timber blocks, soundboards, bent side panels, and intricate inlay elements, removing them from the busy factory floor and placing them in the quiet sanctuary of his studio. Isolated, these fragments shed their utility and took on a sculptural quality. Through Sawa’s lens, a simple jig or a neck-blank becomes a study in intelligence and intentionality.

The project explores the relationship between raw material and finished form, honoring not only the instrument but the human touch behind its creation.

Isamu Sawa

The Power of the Diptych: A Visual Conversation

A defining characteristic of VIRTUOSITY is the use of diptychs. Inspired by the “bookmatched” soundboards essential to guitar making, where two pieces of wood are joined to create a symmetrical grain, Sawa paired his images to create a rhythmic dialogue.

The results become something more than “before and after” shots. Instead, they are conversations between material and method. A raw piece of timber sits alongside a finished component, immediately communicating the passage of time and the application of skill. This structure allows the viewer to feel the tension and control inherent in the craft, resulting in images that are simultaneously exacting and lyrical.

Precision in Service of the Print

For Sawa, the 100MP resolution is never about the numbers, it’s about the materiality of the final print. In VIRTUOSITY, medium format allows the grain of the timber to remain tactile and the curves of the guitar body to retain their organic softness.

When printed large-scale, the images hold a tonal richness that invites the viewer to look closer, mirroring the way an artisan looks at their workbench. The result is a body of work that goes beyond showing how a guitar is made; it is a meditation on the beauty of making itself.

The Seamless Extension
Why Phase One?

For a project built on subtle tonal transitions and tactile surface details, Sawa’s choice of equipment was instinctive. A Phase One user for over two decades, he utilized the Phase One XF IQ3 100MP paired with the Schneider Kreuznach LS 80mm f/2.8.

“The camera feels like a seamless extension of my arm.”

Isamu Sawa.

In the realm of macro and still-life photography, where the depth of field is measured in millimeters, Phase One’s integrated focus-stacking workflow proved transformative. This allowed Sawa to maintain absolute sharpness across the intricate textures of the wood while retaining the soft, atmospheric fall-off that gives the series its emotional weight.