Japan Exposures

Shigeichi Nagano (born 1925), circa 1959.

In [Shigeichi] Nagano’s prolific photographic output one can sense his commitment to the ‘now’ of the era that he is photographing. His work in the late 1950s and early 1960s shows a radically new city emerging through its mutating landscape, but most of all through the lives of its inhabitants.[…] His images echo the sentiment felt by many that the breakneck pace of economic growth was damaging the nation’s social fabric.

— Marc Feustel, “Staring at the sun”, Japan: A Self-Portrait exhibition catalog

In Japan (and elsewhere), when we go out to work and play, by ourselves and on our own volition, we tend to think that we are distinct individuals doing something special. [Nobuto] Osakabe’s images show us that in situations where many individuals do so, the exact opposite may occur. We are, in fact, at no point ever leaving the collective.

The collection of scenes that Mitsuru Fujita has assembled into the collection Zaisyo feature not a single discernible human figure. This hardly would seem something worth mentioning, for despite the relatively high population density of Japan, any photographer with a car and a willingness to leave the urban areas could find those vistas devoid of humans yet pregnant with significance that are the well-eaten bread and butter of certain photographers. (…)

Daido Moriyama and Eikoh Hosoe in the latter’s studio, 1973.

From Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, by Mark Holborn:

When [Daido Moriyama] arrived at the offices of Vivo [in the early 60s], [Shomei] Tomatsu explained that he was too late, Vivo was over. However, [Eikoh] Hosoe responded intuitively to the young Moriyama and offered him work as his assistant. Hosoe, another superb craftsman, became his teacher. Moriyama often stayed the night at the old Vivo offices, which Tomatsu and Hosoe maintained. Occasionally he would stealthily examine Tomatsu’s files of contact sheets and become so excited he couldn’t sleep.

From Saatchi Online:

In [Cell], [Taiji] Matsue has enlarged specific parts of his photographs, cropping them into tiny glimpses of people and details. From this vantage point the individuals and places appear pixilated and isolated: as though the images were taken from a satellite in space. That detached sense of surveillance once again heightens the unique formal characteristics of the photos, but by focusing more closely on people, the varied dimensions of human life are presented in a manner that feels largely free of manipulation or mediation, as though Matsue is happy to provide us with a view of the activities of human life, without trying to heroize or vilify the individuals or activities presented.

Manabu Someya was born in 1964 in Chiba prefecture. He graduated from Nihon University College of Art majoring in photography. He is concentrating his view on Asia and Okinawa and in his work he attempts a perspective on life and death.

W. Eugene Smith, Hitachi, Japan, 1962. Photograph by Kozo Amano.

from The Jazz Loft Project Blog:

It was late in the year of 1961 when W. Eugene Smith and Carole Thomas traveled to Japan. Smith was hired via the fledgling Japanese public relations firm Cosmo PR to produce photographs for a publication on behalf of the firm’s first client, Hitachi. This assignment, like Smith’s Pittsburgh project/expedition/ordeal, started out as a simple one that got complicated and ended up taking the better part of a year to complete. The end result appeared in 1963 as Japan … a chapter of image.

itnumberpi:

straysouls: Yutaka Takanashi

More where this came from.

(via slaapliedje)

Interview with Shiyo Takahashi, Leica Ginza Shop

ERIC is a young Chinese photographer who has lived in Japan for several years. GOOD LUCK CHINA, published in 2008, is a record of his trip back to his homeland in the year of the Beijing Olympics, with his 6x7 camera and Metz flash. Fans of Martin Parr will duly note the influence, but in our opinion this is a excellent body of work that deserves to be taken on its own high merits.