Daido Moriyama - Photographs.

Daido Moriyama (b. 1938) is a Japanese photographer whose work has had a lasting influence on post-war visual culture. Emerging during the 1960s, his practice developed in response to rapid urbanisation, social upheaval, and the shifting cultural identity of Japan. Moriyama’s images are characterised by their raw, unpolished aesthetic, often employing high contrast, grain, and blur to reflect the disordered pace of modern city life. Rather than pursuing clarity or technical refinement, he sought to capture fragments of experience as they unfolded in the street.

His early career was shaped by his involvement with the magazine Provoke (1968–69), where his style became aligned with the idea of “are-bure-boke” (grainy, blurry, out-of-focus) photography. This approach rejected traditional documentary precision and instead emphasised the fragmentary, ambiguous, and subjective qualities of image-making. Moriyama’s images from this period often depict anonymous passers-by, neon-lit streets, stray dogs, and overlooked urban details, creating a body of work that prioritises atmosphere and immediacy over conventional narrative.

Across his career, Moriyama has maintained an interest in the act of photographing as a continuous, almost automatic process. His extensive photobook output—rather than exhibitions—has served as the primary vehicle for his practice, reflecting his belief in the democratic potential of printed images. By privileging repetition, sequencing, and the materiality of the book, he has expanded the possibilities of how photography can be experienced and circulated. Today, Moriyama is regarded as a central figure in contemporary photography, known for reshaping the medium’s language in Japan and beyond.

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Strange Tales
Isaku Kageyama

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