The Photographer’s Gallery in Soho’s Photography Quarter is the current home to a historic retrospective on one of the most influential street photographers of our time, Daido Moriyama. Spanning all four floors of the building’s gallery space, the exhibition invites the public to reflect on his six-decade long career in chronological order from his first photo book Japan: A Photo Theatre (1968) to his ongoing project Record magazine.
While best known for his gritty street photography his work spans beyond this as he refuses to limit his art to just one thing. Moriyama is a rule breaker, with his art rejecting the traditional expectations laid out for the photographers of his generation. In place of pretty and pristine he opts to interrogate and challenge the world through his lens. This revolutionary attitude toward the craft is evident throughout his career, yet most prevalent and unforgiving in his earlier works.
His signature are bure boke style, which translates from Japanese to grainy, blurry and out of focus, was established during his time with Provoke magazine in the late sixties. While the themes during this period had more intimate and erotic tones, this aesthetic long outlived his short stint with the publication. From this point on, he combines this unique style with his other influences such as his tangible curiosity of New York, and his inspiration and fellow artist Andy Warhol. A desire to portray reality through his art was also not something up for negotiation with Moriyama, as he depitcs the impact of the second world war on Japan following the newly inflicted western influence as a result of the US military occupation.
The final floor of the exhibition lends itself as a reading room, with Moriyama’s photobooks lined along the walls for visitors to become well acquainted with. It is the perfect end to the exhibition, as it provides the opportunity for further rumination and exploration into his anything-but-ordinary art. This comprehensive collection of over 200 of photographs across his career is a testament to the three years of research behind the exhibition conducted by Instituto Moreira Salles alongside the Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation.
The exhibition which opened earlier this month, will be housed at The Photographer’s Gallery until February 11, 2024.
