Hamiltons presents Daido Moriyama: SCENE, an exhibition of photographs selected by gallery owner Tim Jefferies from Moriyama’s extensive oeuvre and produced exclusively for Hamiltons as silkscreens on canvas. The majority of these silkscreens are unique in their format and include images taken in the 60s and 70s, as well as much more recently. Hamiltons exhibition opened alongside Photo London, 16 – 20 May 2018, where Hamiltons presented Moriyama not only on stand at the fair but for the Photo London Pavilion Commission.
Daido Moriyama is recognised as one of the few living modern masters of photography from Japan and is certainly the most celebrated photographer to emerge from the Japanese Provoke movement of the 1960s.
Moriyama’s work is notoriously gritty and challenging, often recording the breakdown of traditional values in post-war Japan. Haunted by the American occupation of the country in the aftermath of World War II – the social and cultural shifts, industrialisation, urbanisation and the clash of capitalism with a traditionally insular society – his work alludes to the struggle between tradition and modernism, spirituality and commerce, conveying society’s conflicts through a new visual language. Moriyama has approached his photography with originality by allowing the camera to capture spontaneous, accidental moments which are often found at the very start or very end of film rolls.
Whilst Moriyama’s earlier work often depicted a darker side of street life rife with political protest, from urban decay, stray dogs and images of young women at hostess bars, the eighties witnessed a shift in Moriyama’s work. Whilst retaining the perspective intellect evident throughout his career, Moriyama studied both composition and form and his work became sharper and larger in scale.
Hiro, Shinjuku Day & Night 2, 2000/2018 © Estate of Y. Hiro Wakabayashi
