Daido Moriyama «Japan, a Photo Theater II» (1978). Daido Moriyama, b. 1938 Ikeda City Osaka, is one of Japan’s foremost contemporary photographers. With Takuma Nakahira and the Provoke Group he is today recognized as being one of few Japanese artists to visually formulate our 21st-Century experience. Afterword, «Japan, a Photo Theater II», by Shoji Yamagishi: At the photo exhibit called «New Japanese Photography» held in 1974 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Daido Moriyama was second only to Shomei Tomatsu in terms of number of points, positioning and space. His images, with their coarse grain, overall grey and sometimes extreme contrast between black and white, give an initial impression of vulgarity and tawdriness. But, in fact they are the type of photographic image that creates new interest due to the extreme contrast to the full toned and carefully composed photographs of men such as Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. The work of Moriyama is an act of destruction aimed at traditional forms of photographic expression. There was a process of many errors in developing this new path but this exhibit is proof that outstanding results were finally obtained. How did this reaction arise and reach success? Moriyama first studies photographic techniques under Takeji Iwamiya in Osaka and then under Eikoh Hosoe in Tokyo. If we refer to the work of these two photographers (Sonorama Photo Books No. 2 and No. 4) we can clearly see where Moriyama got his basic techniques of photographic expression. Just at this time, a collection of works came from across the seas to strongly captivate aspiring young Japanese photographers. These were William Klein’s «New York», «Moscow» and «Tokyo». Moriyama was also greatly influenced by these photographs. They were an invitation to a hunting-like game of instantaneous judgement to find thrilling new visual angles under natural light conditions. When I compare Klein and Moriyama I feel that the former perhaps uses graphic design methods relying greatly on printing techniques while the latter appears to make a more direct connection between hi sown emotion and the photograph by identifying himslef completly with the subject. This is exactly as Jospeh Conrad wrote, «The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future», applied to establishing a new method of photography. In his first exhibit, «Japan, a Photo Theater I», Moriyama recorded the lives and expressions of travelling actors, as the title implies. In this book, however, all photographic work were taken in Tokyo. In these he takes objects existing in the world such as posters, magazines, mannequins, etc.,which other people see as mass media, and places them on his own stage as though they were his own objects. When we look at these photographs, in other words, the reflection of his soul, we are made to notice what exactly we are looking at in daily life. Collector copy in over all good condition. Minor signs of use, wear, discolorations and damages. First edition Hard cover with color dust jacket Japanese / English language Format: 22 x 20,6 cm 120 pages Published by Asahi Sonorama, 1978. Price: Inquire
