Art
Japanese photography exhibition
Art
Through a mixture of geographical, language and diplomatic constraints, Japanese photography hasn’t had as extensive a chronicling in the West as it merits. But where we may have lost out in history to a gradual and thorough appreciation of photography in Japan, we’re able to make up for it considerably thanks to a breathtaking exhibition at London’s Michael Hoppen Gallery.
Click here to see images from the exhibition
‘Eyes of An Island’ charts the history of Japanese photography from 1945 to the present day, bringing together a vast collection of images from a number of established and lesser-known names. The exhibition is divided into three parts and loosely three stages in the development of the medium: post-war documentary photography telling of the destruction caused both by war and the nuclear bombs. The second part portrays the reparative process from a more subjective standpoint than the stark images of the previous episode. The third section brings us up to date, focusing on a handful of contemporary, experimental and boundary-breaking photographers.
Though many names might be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Japanese photography – Shomei Tomatsu, Shigeichi Nagano, Hiromi Tsuchidi, Naoya Hatakeyama and Nobuyoshi Araki to name just five – what is striking is seeing the collection presented as a unit and how much the medium’s developments mirrored what was happening in the West.
The subtle differences with Western photography are as much through subject matter, (which sheds an interesting light on relatively unchronicled periods of history, geographical locations and sections of society) as technicality. Despite the vast swathes of Japan that were decimated in World War Two the post-war boom brought about new opportunities.
Japanese technology developed at a tremendous rate, and the mass manufacturing of cameras and film meant that far more of the population had access to far superior forms of photographic equipment than in the West which meant a far wider cross section of society actively photographing and being photographed too.
INFORMATION
- Event dates
- 4 October 2007 to 1 December 2007
- Website
- http://michaelhoppengallery.com
- Telephone
- 44.20 7352 3649
- Address
- Michael Hoppen gallery
3 Jubilee Place
London SW3 3TD
