Daido Moriyama In Color

Considered one of the great masters of contemporary Japanese photography, Daido Moriyama is always on the road, a lone traveller whose black-and-white images recount visions and worlds hidden just beneath the surface of reality. This book contains 250 photographs taken over the latest five years. A constant flow of images that is often frenetic or suddenly suspended, following the rhythm of an unfettered, restless life spent travelling the roads of the world. Daido Moriyama (born 1938) is one of the most important living photographers and photobook makers.

This gorgeous, text-free, oversized collection of full-bleed color and black-and-white photographs compiles a host of previously unseen color nudes together with the collection that formed Daido Moriyama's extremely rare fourth solo book, Kagerou, published in 1972. Here, Moriyama captures bondage and nudity with a self-described "samurai tenderness"--a mood, an intimacy and yet also a distance--as if the artist might have snapped the photographs against his will. The stagings are not careful. They are rushed, immediate and mysteriously visceral. Even the knots seem to have been hastily tied. Each of the 60 photographs gathered here suggests that something has happened or something will happen--something furious, resonant or highly anticipated. There are no models smiling, no boasts of romantic conquest, rarely even a face, and certainly no hint of playfulness. Rather, this is a collection of desires, of mothers, sisters and lovers.

Inspired by the work of an earlier generation of Japanese photographers, especially by Shomei Tomatsu, and by William Klein's seminal photographic book on New York, Daido Moriyama moved from Osaka to Tokyo in the early sixties to become a photographer. He became the leading exponent of a fierce new photographic style that corresponded perfectly to the abrasive and intense climate of Tokyo during a period of great social upheaval. His black and white pictures were marked by fierce contrast and fragmentary, even scratched, frames, which concealed his virtuoso printing. Between June 1972 and July 1973 he produced his own magazine publication, Kiroku, which was then referred to as Record. It became a diaristic journal of his work as it developed. Ten years ago he was able to resume publication of Record, which gradually expanded in extent. To date he has published thirty issues, a number of them including colour. The publication of Record as a book enables work from all thirty issues to be edited into a single sequence, punctuated by Moriyama's own text as it appeared in the magazines. It used to be assumed that Moriyama's peculiarly Japanese style was tied to his Tokyo roots. The evidence of the last ten years demonstrates that Moriyama, a restless world traveller, has been able to apply his unique vision to northern Europe, southern France, the cities of Florence, London, Barcelona, Taipei, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles as well as to the alleys of Osaka, and the landscape of Hokkaido. The book ends in Afghanistan.

For the first time, the colour photographs realised by Daido Moriyama, one of the leading figures in contemporary Japanese photography. An extraordinary limited-edition artist book edited by Filippo Maggia, intended for all collectors searching for the magic of a precious and extraordinary product destined over time to grow in value. Considered one of the great masters of contemporary Japanese photography, Daido Moriyama is a lone traveller whose black-and-white images recount visions and worlds hidden just beneath the surface of reality. However, there are many sides to his practice: here for the first time, over 250 colour photographs taken between the 1960s and the 1970s. A constant flow of images that is often frenetic or suddenly suspended, following the rhythm of an unfettered, restless life spent travelling the roads of the world

'The first thing I always tell anyone who asks me for advice is: "Get outside".' – Daido Moriyama Take an inspiring walk with legendary Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama as he explains his groundbreaking approach to street photography. For over half a century, Moriyama has provided a distinct vision of Japan and its people. In Daido Moriyama: How I Take Photographs, he offers a unique opportunity for fans to learn about his methods, the cameras he uses, and the journeys he takes with a camera.