Studio Brief 01 - Daido Moriyama

Daido Moriyama is a Japanese photographer that is noted for his images depicting the breakdown of traditional values in Post-War Japan. Through a unique aesthetic technique of taking grimy but captivating urban images, Moriyama is now recognised as one of the master photographers of the 20th century, and his brutal images of Tokyo’s dark underbelly portray a whole country’s socio-political state. His style is synonymous with that of Provoke magazine, which he was involved with in 1969, namely 'are, bure, bokeh', translated as 'grainy / rough, blurry, and out-of-focus'.

Provoke magazine was an experimental Japanese photography magazine that was founded by the collective of photographers Yutaka Takanashi and Takuma Nakahira, critic Kōji Taki, and writer Takahiko Okada in 1968. Despite only having published only 3 issues, it "had a profound effect upon Japanese photography in the 1970s and 80s" and "spread a completely new idea of photography in Japan." What Provoke represented was a "a platform for a new photographic expression" and that it stood "that stood in opposition to the photography establishment". It these kinds of statements, although ambitious, I hope to achieve through my art direction in editorial design. Whats important for me is to offer readers a radical new viewing experience in whatever field I choose to explore. 

These statements were evident in Moriyama's photography. 

Stray Dog, Misawa, 1971

Daido Moriyama, Shinjuku, 2000-2004 / 2004, 100 x 150cm | © Daido Moriyama, Courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

Daido Moriyama Tights, 1987-2011 / 2014 Gelatin silver print 39.4 x 59.1 in (100 x 150 cm) | © Daido Moriyama, Courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

His pictures represented a style that intentionally broke away from the style that was conventionally accepted at the time by the photographic intelligentsia. In doing so, they translated their dissatisfaction or agitation with the rapid changes of Japanese society to a visual level. However, their protest was also exquisitely artistic, and questioned the conception of photography altogether. 

Moriyama's images symbolize a possible art direction I can take and achieve within the images I place in future publications. Images that go against the norm and question the subject at hand. Not only the style of the image itself but the art style within the publication. I.e. as shown below. 

Daido Moriyama, Poster (Nakano), 1990, 34.3 x 23 cm | © Daido Moriyama, Courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

Therefore by merging both the photography style and construction of the publication, it creates a more cohesive art direction.