Light modulation element and image display device

The present invention provides a light modulation element in which a visible image is written by simultaneously conducting irradiation of the light modulation element with exposure light according to image information which corresponds to the visible image and application of a voltage, having: a pair of electrodes to which the voltage is applied; a photoconductive layer which, when the light modulation element has been irradiated with the exposure light, shows an electric characteristic distribution corresponding to the intensity distribution of the exposure light; a liquid crystal layer to which a partial voltage derived from the voltage applied to the pair of electrodes and having a distribution corresponding to the electric characteristic distribution of the photoconductive layer is applied to record a visible image having an optical characteristic distribution corresponding to the distribution of the partial voltage; and a light shielding layer disposed between the photoconductive layer and the liquid crystal layer, wherein the photoconductive layer, the liquid crystal layer and the light shielding layer are disposed between the electrodes, and the light shielding layer contains a resin including partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol; and an image display device including the same.