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APERTURE
Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s
Edited by Ivan Vartanian. Text by Ivan Vartanian, Ryuichi Kaneko.
The public profile of the Japanese photography book has recently boomed, from near-complete obscurity to great desirability. And not only for the aficionados. Photobooks that once were entirely unknown outside Japan (except to a few well-informed scholars and collectors) now sell at astronomical prices at auctions and online. And yet the photobook has been central to the development of Japanese photography, particularly in its postwar phase. To sketch the stages of this boom: 1999's Fotografia Publica included just one Japanese photobook, Kiyoishi Koishi's Early Summer Nerves of 1937, plus two photo magazines from the 1930s, Nippon and Kôga; Andrew Roth's The Book of 101 Books (2001) listed four seminal titles by Hosoe, Kawada, Araki and Moriyama; but it was not until 2004, with the first volume of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's indispensable The Photobook: A History, that it began to be clear what a rich body of work awaited excavation. Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s may be seen as a culmination of this trajectory and, as such, marks a very exciting moment in photo publishing and in the history of photography. It presents 40 definitive publications from the era, piecing together a previously invisible history from some of the most influential works, as well as from forgotten gems, and situating them against the broader historical and sociological backdrop. Each book, beautifully reproduced through numerous spreads, is accompanied by an in-depth explanatory text, and sidebars highlight important editors, designers, themes and periodicals. A superb production, Japanese Photobooks is a landmark celebration of the distinct character and influence of the Japanese photobook.
Featured spread, from Eikoh Hosoe's Man and Woman, published by Camerart in 1961, is reproduced from Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s.
FROM THE BOOK
"In recent years, Japanese photobooks have captured the attention and imagination of many readers, historian and collectors in the West. Thanks to their unique melding of innovative photography, graphic design and artisanal printing techniques, Japanese photobooks have earned a reputation for the spectacular coupled with an equal measure of mystique. However, an appreciation for the more dramatic aspects of the Japanese photobook may come at the expense of understanding broader historical perspective and the era's multitude of forms, genres and themes. In today's popular view, I fear that Japanese photobooks understood across-the-board as a blur of high-contrast images bled on all sides and predominated by islands of tone on the printed page. There may be a misconception of the 'Japanese Photobook' as one type of photobook, homogenous in theme and form. Such an understanding would be unfortunate as much as it would be inaccurate." Ivan Vartanian, excerpted from the introduction to The Japanese Photobook.
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.25 x 12.25 in. / 240 pgs / 200 color / 200 duotone. LIST PRICE: U.S. $75.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $90 ISBN: 9781597110945 PUBLISHER: Aperture AVAILABLE: 11/30/2009 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: No longer our product AVAILABILITY: Not Available
Published by Aperture. Edited by Ivan Vartanian. Text by Ivan Vartanian, Ryuichi Kaneko.
The public profile of the Japanese photography book has recently boomed, from near-complete obscurity to great desirability. And not only for the aficionados. Photobooks that once were entirely unknown outside Japan (except to a few well-informed scholars and collectors) now sell at astronomical prices at auctions and online. And yet the photobook has been central to the development of Japanese photography, particularly in its postwar phase. To sketch the stages of this boom: 1999's Fotografia Publica included just one Japanese photobook, Kiyoishi Koishi's Early Summer Nerves of 1937, plus two photo magazines from the 1930s, Nippon and Kôga; Andrew Roth's The Book of 101 Books (2001) listed four seminal titles by Hosoe, Kawada, Araki and Moriyama; but it was not until 2004, with the first volume of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's indispensable The Photobook: A History, that it began to be clear what a rich body of work awaited excavation. Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and 70s may be seen as a culmination of this trajectory and, as such, marks a very exciting moment in photo publishing and in the history of photography. It presents 40 definitive publications from the era, piecing together a previously invisible history from some of the most influential works, as well as from forgotten gems, and situating them against the broader historical and sociological backdrop. Each book, beautifully reproduced through numerous spreads, is accompanied by an in-depth explanatory text, and sidebars highlight important editors, designers, themes and periodicals. A superb production, Japanese Photobooks is a landmark celebration of the distinct character and influence of the Japanese photobook.
