Photography Daido Moriyama at the Photo Elysée: Japan in many dimensions
The Photo Elysée photography museum in Lausanne is presenting a retrospective of one of Japan's greatest photographers, Daido Moriyama. The Osaka-born artist is known for his dense and high-contrast black-and-white images.
In many of his pictures, Moriyama captured the conflict between Japanese tradition and Western influences in his homeland. After Berlin, London and Helsinki, the exhibition is now making a stop in Lausanne's art district.
The show, organized in collaboration with the Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation, is one of the largest explorations of the work of the Japanese artist, who was born on 10 October 1938 in Ikeda, near Osaka. It therefore spans more than 60 years of his artistic career. The exhibition opened on Friday and will be on display until February 23, 2025.
"It's impossible to talk about the history of photography without mentioning him. And in Japan, he is a cult artist," said museum director Nathalie Herschdorfer at the opening. Moriyama's work is very dense. "Photography is his way of life."
Blurred and grainy images
"He is not a niche photographer. He saw photography as a democratic language that was promoted by the mass media - newspapers, magazines and high-circulation commercial publications," said retrospective organizer Thyago Nogueira. "His work and aesthetics are unique, famous above all for his blurred and grainy images full of energy and dynamism."
On display are photojournalism, portraits, street scenes and moments taken from life.
The soon-to-be 86-year-old Moriyama grew up in post-war Japan. After Japan's surrender at the end of the Second World War, the country was militarily occupied by the USA, which led to rapid westernization and turned the economy upside down.
During these decades of change, the photographer became a witness to the changing customs of Japan in the second half of the 20th century. He drew inspiration for his work from American artists such as Andy Warhol and William Klein.
SDA
