New Japanese Photography

"Within the past twenty-five years the character of Japanese photography has changed radically, and its former dependence on the patterns and attitudes of the traditional Japanese media has been replaced by a sometimes harshly realistic objectivity. At the root of this change was a desire to find ways in which photography could deal directly with contemporary experience, rather than with the basically tormalistic issues of picture structure. The work produced under this impetus has influenced photographic thinking throughout the world. This book surveys the major innovative figures in recent Japanese photography and reports on the most significant work being done by younger photographers in Japan today. Alive with visual excitement, the volume presents the distinctive work of fifteen photographers."--Page 4 de la couverture.

18 contributed articles interspersed with 21 short studies (one page of text and 3 pages of pictures) of particular artists/photographers.

Black Sun is an unprecedented portrait of postwar Japan through the eyes of four of the nation's most significant photographers. It encompasses and connects ancient Japanese prophecies, the terror of nuclear destruction, and the results of swift and massive westernization. Eikoh Hosoe, Shomei Tomatsu, Masahisa Fukase, and Daido Moriyama are widely acknowledged in Japan as masters of photography. Their work ranges from the metaphoric to the documentary, from the presentation of post-apocalyptic artifacts to portraits of crows and crowded city streets. However varied the approach, this work is unified by a sense of innovation and a persistent search for native roots. In the accompanying text, Mark Holborn creates his own picture of Japan's creative climate, one in which audacious exploration crashes against a legacy of tradition and refinement. He provides previously undocumented links between the photographers and other leading Japanese artists of our time, such as filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo, and dancer Tatsumi Hijikata.

Despite the censorship of dissident material during the decade between the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, a number of photographers across Japan produced a versatile body of Surrealist work. In a pioneering study of their practice, Jelena Stojkovic draws on primary sources and extensive archival research and maps out art historical and critical contexts relevant to the apprehension of this rich photographic output, most of which is previously unseen outside of its country of origin. The volume is an essential resource in the fields of Surrealism and Japanese history of art, for researchers and students of historical avant-gardes and photography, as well as forreaders interested in visual culture.

During the 1960s and 70s in Japan, the photobookthrough a combination of excellence in design, printing, and materialsovertook prints as a popular mode of artistic dissemination. This process has expanded to an extent where any discussion of Japanese photography now has to include the book work. Today, the most famous workssuch as Nobuyoshi Arakis Sentimental Journey and Eikoh Hosoes Man and Womancontinue to inspire artists internationally. Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s presents forty definitive publications from the era, piecing together an otherwise invisible history that has played out in tandem with photography as a medium. Included are some of the most influential works along with forgotten gems, placed within a larger historical and sociological context. Each book, beautifully reproduced through numerous spreads, is accompanied by an in-depth explanatory text and sidebars highlighting important editors, designers, themes, and periodicals. Lavishly produced, this unique publication is an ode to the distinct character and influence of the Japanese photobook.