For several years, La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris has been adding works produced by Japanese artists since the end of the Second World War to its collection. Most were donated by the Japanese company, Dai Nippon Printing.
During the period of transformation and restructuring that followed the devastation of war, the avant-garde photographers of the Provoke group, whose members included Daido Moriyama, invented a new visual language to reflect the social and political changes of the 60s and 70s.
Seventy years after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, to illustrate this dark chapter in history, this exhibition presents the powerful and disturbing images of Shomei Tomatsu from the “Nagasaki” series.
From the surprising images by Shoji Ueda to the striking portraits of Keiichi Tahara to outstanding works by Ihei Kimura, Ikko Narahara and Hiro, all of the leading figures on the Japanese photographic scene are represented in this exhibition which illustrates the important contribution made by Japan to the history of photography in the 20th century.
Dai Nippon Printing Co.
From 1994 to 2006, under the impulse of its director Yoshitoshi Kitajima, the Japanese printing company Dai Nippon Printing Co. gathered for the Maison Européenne de la Photographie an important collection of Japanese photographs.
Made of 540 work of arts from the most important post-war photographers, this "collection in the collection" highlights the essential importance taken by Japanese photographers in the World's photography history.
Masahisa Fukase
Hokkaido (Japan) 1934 – 2012 Tokyo.
Naoya Hatakeyama
Iwate (Japan), 1958. Lives in Tokyo.
Hiro
Born in Shanghai (China) 1930. Lives in New York City.
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Born 14 June 1921 in the USA, died 6 February 2012
Ihei Kimura
12 December 1901 in Tokyo - died 30 May 1974
Ryuji Miyamoto
Tokyo, 1947. Lives in Tokyo.
Yasumasa Morimura
Born in Osaka in 1951
Daido Moriyama
Ikeda-cho (Japan), 1938. Born in Tokyo.
Ikko Narahara
Fukuoka (Japan), 1931. Born in Tokyo
Keiichi Tahara
Kyoto (Japan) 1951. Born in Tokyo
Shomei Tomatsu
Sakaiminato (Japan), 1913 – Yonago (Japan), 2000
Shoji Ueda
Sakaiminato (Japan), 1913 – Yonago (Japan), 2000
Kimiko Yoshida
Born in 1963 in Tokyo
