photobook
- Museum number
- 2007,3007.187
- Title
- Object: Gendai gokan 現代語感 (The Nuances of Today's Words)
- Description
-
Photobook. First edition. Text in Japanese and English. Signed copy.
- Production date
- 1971
- Dimensions
-
Height: 26.50 centimetres
-
Width: 21.80 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The present work is Tomiyama's first monograph. In the introductory essay (entitled: Through the Eyes of the Stranger) Kaiko Takeshi makes the following comments: “The photographs convey a sense of gloomy bitterness. They reflect the hard, unflinching vision of the photographer to face the darkness of reality. I also find in these pictures a passion that grows irresistibly more intense... With a cruelty approaching violence, the photographer has captured the moments in the disintegration of Japan”. The present work (lit. linguistic sense of today) is his most highly acclaimed collection of photos. The images play on the ironic use of popular Japanese words such as 'kyoyo' (tolerance), a fisheye view from above of a rush-hour crowd inside a packed train at Shinjuku Station. The photo 'rentai' (solidarity) shows Wadakura-bashi bridge with several embracing couples, while 'kamitsu' (congestion) depicts a forthright lady walking past a crowded bus-stop. A highly finished product and a key item from the 70s. (Titus Boeder, 4/07)
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2007
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2007,3007.187
- Additional IDs
-
Other BM number: PB.184 (Photobook number)