Photography Collection

The book not only plays a crucial role on the Japanese photography scene, it is an integral part of the art as it is experienced in Japan. Several landmark works stand out as seminal milestones in the history of Japanese photography. These include among others: “Barakei” (Ordeal by Roses) by Eikoh Hosoe, “Oo! Shinjuku” by Tomatsu Shomei and “Shashin Yo Sayonara” (Bye Bye Photography) by Daido Moriyama. Historically Japan has always attached a great deal of importance to publishing, the graphic arts and the image, which played a major role with the country’s long-standing wood-block printing tradition. With a very few specialised galleries or museums in post-war Japan,photographers had only the book as a way of showing their work.This tradition has endured, and to the present day, many photographers favour books rather than exhibitions as the vehicle of choice for their art. In recognition of the importance of the photographic book in Japan, five pavilions have been established at the centre of the fair, in the Central Exhibition space. On exhibit is a selection of the leading publishers of photographic books in Japan who have won acclaim for their creativity and the originality of their production. Japanese publishers in the Central Exhibition space:

Akaaka Art publishing, Tokyo
Featured photographers: Seiji Asada, Seiichi Furuya, Hanayo, Naoki Ishikawa, Miyako Ishiuchi, Miki Jô, Kôichi Kuroda,Taiji Matsue, Maki Miyashita, Hitoshi Nomura,Atsushi Okada,Tomoko Sawada, Rieko Shiga, Seiji Shibuya, Nao Tsuda, Yoshihiko Ueda.
Bookshop M, Tokyo

Featured photographers: Jôji Hashiguchi, Daidô Moriyama, Rika Noguchi, Sakiko Nomura,
Katsumi Omori, Masafumi Sanai.

Little More, Tokyo
Featured photographers: Tamotsu Fuji,Tarô Hirano, Naoki Ishikawa, Naoki Honjô, Rinko Kawauchi, Osamu Kikuchi,Yôichi Nagano, Masataka Nakano, Yoshitomo Nara, Katsumi Omori, Handa Sugano, Jun Sugano Mikiya Takimoto, Masaru Tatsuki, Yoshihiko Ueda, Kayo Ume, Masa Yoshinaga.
Seigensha Art Publishing, Kyoto
Featured photographers: Ryo Owada, Naoya Hakateyama, Eikoh Hosoe,Tomomi Imai, Hideto Kawaguchi,Yasuhide Kuge,Yasumasa Morimura, Nishimure, Hitoshi Ohashi, Kei Ono,Masafumi Sanai, Tomoko Sawada, Shintarô Satô, Naoko Tamura, Kyôichi Tsuzuki, Uchihara,Yoshihiko Ueda, Miwa Yanagi, Kenzo Yokoyama.
Tosei-Sha, Tokyo
Featured photographers: Akimaya, Shinpei Asai, Yoshihi Hagiwara, Kazuo Kitai, Nakazato,
Keiko Nomura, Kôji Onaka,Takeshi Shikama, Issei Suda, Hiromi Tsuchida.

In addition a number of publishers and sellers of rare Western books are present at the fair, complementing this overall picture of the breadth of Japanese publishing. Several rare volumes are on show in the mini-exhibition of Japanese books organised by Harper’s Books (East Hampton). Among the gems are “Ginza Haccho” by Yoshikazu Suzuki in which the streets of Ginza are photographed in horizontal sequences. Published in 1954, the volume is a direct precursor of Ed Rusha’s early 1960s work “Every Building on Sunset Strip.” Another rare item is Kazuo Kitai’s volume “Resistance”, published in 1965. Born in 1944, the artist is not well known in Europe, but this early work anticipates the style and aesthetic developed by the members of “Provoke” in 1968. A specialist in Japanese photographic literature, Tissato Nakahara (Paris), has brought several rare volumes such as Daido Moriyama’s 1982 work “Hiraki To Kage” (Light and Shadow), “Otoko to On’a” (Man and Woman), by Eikoh Hosoe and published in 1961, as well as Tomatsu Shomei’s “11 :02 Nagasaki” from 1966. Toluca (Paris) and La Librairie 213 (Paris) also present a selection of Japanese books while Phaidon (Paris/London) is offering two signed, numbered original prints by Nobuyoshi Araki from its limited editions and the de luxe boxed edition entitled “Araki : Self, Life, Death”, limited to 100. Meanwhile, The Aperture Foundation (New York) is showing recent publications of work by Eikoh Hosoe and Takashi Homma. In addition, Hatje Cantz (Stuttgart) is launching the monograph “Izima Kaoru, Landscapes with Corpses.” This artist’s work can be seen at Paris Photo at Kudlek Van Der Grinten Gallery (Cologne).