I’m still here, continuing to exist in Japan. I’m spending a lot more time on Twitter, so I would suggest heading over there ¹ if you would like to see more frequent updates from me. In the meantime, I’m working on something new which will be out in the not-too-distant future; I will post about it here at that time.

There’s still much to say about Japanese photography, so this blog will not disappear anytime soon.

© Wataru Yamamoto

Wataru Yamamoto ¹ will hold a solo exhibition of his work “Plane Tree Observations” at Yumiko Chiba Associates ² in Shinjuku, from 7/26 – 8/10. There will be an opening reception Saturday, 7/27. Technically, I have “curated” this exhibit. Further information about “Plane Tree Observations” is available on the YCA site ³.

Kayo Ume – Jiichansama was a surprise
Keizo Motoda – fun
Mayumi Hosokura
Yuji Hamada
Emi Nakata
Ina Jang
1968 exhibit at Syabi – dull, which is really saying something given the material

Russet Lederman interviewed Yoko Sawada on the ICP Blog ¹, and it is well worth a look. Osiris ² represents and publishes books from some of the most thought-provoking Japanese photographers working today, most notably Takuma Nakahira ³.

A spread from "Rasen Kaigan"

Meaningful photography criticism in Japan is generally practiced at the academic level, which means that the discussion almost never reaches the world of photographers. In the first part of 2013, Minoru Shimizu’s articles on Lieko Shiga ¹ proved an exception to the rule; it seemed like they were on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Certainly, Shimizu was able to reach a more general audience by (very cannily) describing Shiga’s work as “B-class horror.” Any reader who looks beyond this catchphrase, though, will find that Shimizu is not trying to demolish Shiga—he’s harsh, yes, but he offers her Sendai Mediatheque exhibit very high praise. Instead, his anger is reserved for Japanese “critics” who, in Shimizu’s view, write only “idle chatter, revealing nothing about photography itself.” Here we have the real motivation for these articles, but it’s easy to imagine that this particular critique fell on deaf ears.

Of course I’m only writing about these articles now because they have recently been translated into English on the ART-iT site. Here are links to part 1 ² and part 2 ³.

No matter how loudly we might insist that these impassive young architects acknowledge the reality of their lives more openly, our cries remain as pointless as admonishing a child who is eating a hamburger and watching TV to eat fish, turn off the TV and talk to his parents. Perhaps we must instead find a new type of dining table where we can enjoy eating hamburgers. Rather than clinging to the counters of our neighborhood bars and reviling the big tables of the cafes, perhaps we should seek out a new reality in those new tables. […] I now sense that reality does not precede consumption, but rather lies beyond it, on the other side. Thus, we have no choice but to stand before the sea of consumption, immerse ourselves, and swim through it to discover what lies on the far shore. If we stand motionless at the shore, the water only continues to rise. So if we are to survive, we can neither refuse to swim not stand dumbfounded as the water envelops us.

In “A New Architecture Is Possible Only in the Sea of Consumption,” From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan, 1945–1989: Primary Documents ¹ published by MOMA.

© Takuma Nakahira

Takuma Nakahira is holding a solo exhibition of “Circulation: Date, Place, Events” at Yossi Milo Gallery in New York through 7/12. I wrote an article about Nakahira’s work for American Photo ¹.

"Cutting," 1971 © Keiji Uematsu

Keiji Uematsu’s exhibit at Yumiko Chiba Associates ¹ in Shinjuku, up until 6/8, is excellent. YCA not a large space but Uematsu’s mix of photography and sculpture matches it well. I’ve already been twice, and I’ll try to go back again.

© Wataru Yamamoto

Wataru Yamamoto will hold an exhibition of “Drawing a Line” at photographers’ gallery ¹ in Shinjuku, from 6/4 – 6/16. The exhibit will serve as a (somewhat belated) celebration of the publication of his book with MCV MCV ².

Wataru and I will have a talk event on Saturday, June 8 starting from 4pm, and there will be an opening reception from 6pm.

Space Cadet ¹ is at it again; after last year’s “Actual Exhibition #1,” ² they’re following up with “Actual Exhibition #2.” Once again the exhibit will be held at Turner Gallery ³. Dates are 5/24 – 6/2.