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GENERATION
REBELS IN A
TURBULENT TIME
CONCEPT 03
PHOTOGRAPHERS
YUTAKA TAKANASHI 04
TAKUMA NAKAHIRA 08
DAIDO MORIYAMA 12
HITOMI WATANABE 16
KAZUO KITAI 20
MIYAKO ISHIUCHI 24
JPP PORTFOLIO SERIES 28
Concept
JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHY AT ITS BEST THE INAUGURAL VOLUME: THE PROVOKE GENERATION
Photography can be best appreciated when you can hold it in your The first issue of the JPP Portfolio Series focuses on Japan during
hands. A photograph’s intimate details speak to you directly as you the tempestuous 1960s and 70s as captured through the lenses of
explore each element of the frame and enjoy a sense of connec- the era’s most innovative photographers. This collection includes
tion with the photographer. The Japanese Photography Project 72 collotype prints which embody the work of photographers
(JPP) Portfolio Series facilitates this connection by bringing the featured in the short-lived avant-garde art magazine Provoke,
work of prominent photographers and historic Japanese photog- alongside their colleagues and leading female photographers of the
raphy movements to life through beautifully printed images time.
alongside original essays and biographies.
Featuring the works of Daido Moriyama, Yutaka Takanashi, Hitomi
Each volume of the JPP Portfolio Series is designed to showcase a Watanabe, Takuma Nakahira, Kazuo Kitai, and Miyako Ishiuchi, The
historically significant movement of Japanese photography. Provoke Generation brings their groundbreaking movement to life.
Gorgeous prints of seminal images, complemented by rich and These tempestuous years in the late 60s and early 70s seeded the
insightful biographies and critical essays by renowned scholars, careers of these artists, some of whom are still active today.
bring to life in unprecedented detail the art of pioneering figures Complementing their images are biographies written by experts in
in Japanese photography alongside the historical context neces- the field and forewords by Simon Baker, curator of photography at
sary to fully understand their genre and history defining roles. The Tate Modern, London, and John Dower, professor emeritus of the
JPP Portfolio Series aims to raise international awareness of these Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The debut edition of the
artists and the movements they created in order to integrate them JPP Portfolio Series showcasing these one-of-a-kind texts and
fully into the global photography canon. frame-ready photographs in a custom finished box offers an
artistic and historic depth of understanding not attainable
This one of a kind portfolio is the product of a close collaboration anywhere else.
between world-renowned Japanese and Western historians and
curators. Simon Baker, Curator of Photography at Tate Modern in
London and Kotaro Iizawa, the leading researcher and critic of Learn more >
Japanese photography, Ryuichi Kaneko, historian, and curator at
the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography worked together
to select the photographers and images featured in each volume.
Yutaka Takanashi
1935 -
01
A founding member of Provoke, Yutaka Takanashi Since his Provoke days, Takanashi focused on the
was born in 1935 in the area of Tokyo that is now evolving cityscape of Tokyo resulting in a number
Shinjuku. He studied photography at Nihon of uniquely positioned photobooks. In such
University, graduating in 1953. His work there, acclaimed photobooks as his 1965 Tokyo-jin
along with continued study at the Kuwasawa Design (Tokyo-ites), his first major photo book publica-
School, led to a successful career as a commercial tion, and his follow-up Toshi-e (Towards the City)
photographer. (circa 1970s), he chronicled the Japanese metrop-
olis' post-war evolution juxtaposed with its
A PROVOKE MEMBER WITH HIS OWN complicated economic metamorphosis and
cultural contradictions. His more contemporary
STYLE
work, most of which continues to focus on Tokyo
and more rural landscapes, are testament to the
Invited by Nakahira to collaborate on the first issue perpetual evolution of his artistic methods. For
of Provoke, Takanashi brought a unique energy to example, Hatsukuni (Primal Landscape) (1985)
the publication. His photographs did not conform functioned as a sort of travel journal of images
to the are, bure, boke style of his colleagues; Takanashi captured while meandering between the
rather they embraced outright the clarity of his geographic extremes of Okinawa and Hokkaido.
photographic frames. Though his style differed, he
shared with his Provoke partners the commitment
to the theoretical underpinnings of the publica-
tion. Like his colleagues, Takanashi strove to stoke
the flames for photography as a means of under-
standing the world. All images by Yutaka Takanashi © the artist 02
Yutaka Takanashi, Chūō-ku: Ginza West-6 MONKY A’ GOGO Festival, August 28,
from the series Tokyo-jin / Tokyoites, 1965
04
Yutaka Takanashi, Shibuya-ku: Hachikō Square, April 25, from the series Tokyo-jin / Tokyoites, 1965
Yutaka Takanashi, from the series Toshi-e / Towards the City, 1969
06
Yutaka Takanashi, Kochi pref., the Tomb of Shigetō Tani, from the series Hatsukuni / Pre-Landscape, 1984
Yutaka Takanashi, Okinawa pref., Itoman Shiroganedō, Yutaka Takanashi, Okinawa pref., Naha, Okinawa, Yutaka Takanashi, Shimane pref., Izumo Shrine,
from the series Hatsukuni / Pre-Landscape, 1985 from the series Hatsukuni / Pre-Landscape, 1985 from the series Hatsukuni / Pre-Landscape, 1985
08 10
12
Yutaka Takanashi, from the series Toshi-e / Towards the City, 1970s Yutaka Takanashi, from the series Toshi-e / Towards the City, 1962
Yutaka Takanashi, from the series Toshi-e / Towards the City, 1970s
Takuma Nakahirai, from the series Circulation: Date, Place, Events, 1971
04
Takuma Nakahirai, from the series Circulation: Date, Place, Events, 1971
06
05
09 10
Takuma Nakahira, from the series Degree Zero – Yokohama, 2003 Takuma Nakahira, from the book For a Language to Come, 1970
12
08 Takuma Nakahira, Untitled, 1978-89
Takuma Nakahirai, from the series
Circulation: Date, Place, Events, 1971
Daido Moriyama
1938 -
04
06
5 05
Daido Moriyama, from the series Dog and Mesh Tights, 2015
11
12
08 10
Daido Moriyama, from the series Dog and Mesh Tights, 2015
Daido Moriyama, from the series Dog and Mesh Tights, 2015
Daido Moriyama, from the series Light and Shadow, 1982 Daido Moriyama, from the series Light and Shadow, 1982
Hitomi Watanabe
1939 -
moments of relaxation and contemplation to All images by Hitomi Watanabe © the artist
Hitomi Watanabe, from the series Shinjuku Contemporary, 1967-68
04
06
08 10
12
Hitomi Watanabe, from the series Tekiya no Sekai, 1967-68 Hitomi Watanabe, from the series Tōdai Zenkyōtō, 1968-69
Hitomi Watanabe, from the series Tōdai Zenkyōtō, 1968-69
Considered one of the most distinguished photog- Shortly thereafter, Kitai traveled to Chiba Prefec-
raphers of his generation, Kazuo Kitai thrived on ture to photograph the rural residents of Sanrizu-
photographing everyday life. Building on the energy ka. Residents of the doomed farming village forty
of the 19th-century French flâneur, Kitai’s brilliance miles east of Tokyo were ordered off their land as 01
is his ability to transform the everyday into the the land was designated for the planned Narita
exceptional, the ordinary into the extraordinary. International Airport. The farmers and their Kazuo Kitai, Childrens' Resistance Corps,
families refused to go silently and the clash, from the series Sanrizuka, 1970
BOLD BEGINNINGS marked by sometimes violent conflict, became a
highly visual metaphor for the friction between
traditional culture and the pressures of modern-
Kitai developed a fascination with art in his teens,
ization. The conflict drew protesters from far and
enrolled at Tokyo’s Nihon University College of Art,
wide; some of the more passionate opponents of
became dissatisfied with the program and soon
the government construction moving into the
dropped out. In 1964 at age 20, he self-published a
village to fight back first-hand. Kitai was one of
photobook entitled Teikō (Resistance). This cost
these dedicated souls who lived with a local
Kitai all of his savings but the effort caught the eye
farming family from 1969 to 1971. Kitai’s photo-
of student protest leaders who persuaded him to
graphs were published in the 1971 book Sanrizuka
document their activities.
and earned him the Newcomer’s Award from the
Photographic Society of Japan in 1972. Inspired by
The later 1960s were marked by protest, as young
his experiences in the countryside, Kitai dedicated
people around the world took to the streets to
the following years to an ongoing examination of
demonstrate. Kitai was sympathetic to these
rural life which led to the publication of Mura-e
activists and became personally involved, infusing
(To the Villages) (circa 1974). From that point on,
his photographs with a unique flavor and distin-
Kitai continued to photograph Japan with his same
guishing them from the sea of mainstream photo-
flâneur flair and, for brief periods in the 1970s and
journalism images of the time. His photographs
1990s, he was active in China as well, capturing
published in Teikō (Resistance) (1964) reveal the
with his lens another society undergoing the
power of his point of view, not as a mere onlooker,
throes of major change.
but rather from the perspective of the protester.
His four-month stint in 1968 living in the Nihon
University College of Art building alongside student 02
occupiers reinforced this authenticity. All images by Kazuo Kitai © the artist
Kazuo Kitai, Sanrizuka Protesters
from the series Sanrizuka, 1969
04
Kazuo Kitai, Traditional Winter Hunters (Matagi), Ani district, Akita prefecture,
from the series Mura-e / To the Villages, 1975
Kazuo Kitai, Riot Squad, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Kazuo Kitai, Injured Protestor, Yokosuka, Kanagawa,
from the series Teikō / Resistance, 1964 from the series Teikō / Resistance, 1964
Kazuo Kitai, Tennami Solidarity Hut, Kazuo Kitai, Washi Village, Agawa district, Kōchi prefecture, Kazuo Kitai, Country Road, Kume, Okayama,
from the series Sanrizuka, 1969 from the series Mura-e / To the Villages, 1965 from the series Mura-e / To the Villages, 1974
08 10 12
Kazuo Kitai, Women Facing the Police on a Hilltop, Kazuo Kitai, Riot Squad, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Kazuo Kitai, Flag, Kanagawa,
from the series Sanrizuka, 1971 from the series Teikō / Resistance, 1964 from the series Teikō / Resistance, 1964
Miyako Ishiuchi
1947 -
Miyako Ishiuchi is one of the few internationally Feeling somewhat scarred by the confusing culture
of her youth, Ishiuchi built on the theme of the Miyako Ishiuchi, Apartment #2, from the series Apartment, 1977-78
renowned female photographers of the Provoke
generation. She was born in 1947 in rural Gunma scar from the perspective of the relentless effects
Prefecture, a locale overshadowed by the ongoing of time, memory, and trauma on visible surfaces.
United States Navy presence there. Accordingly, This resonated in her follow-up photobook
Ishiuchi’s earliest years were colored by this Apartment (1977-1978), which is an homage to her
military presence, leaving a profound impact on childhood home, as well as in the following
her future artistic career. Ishiuchi channeled her decades’ Clubs & Courts (1988-1990). The same
love-hate relationship with American culture into energy carried Ishiuchi into the 21st century,
her landmark work, Yokosuka Story (1976-1977), where her explorations have ranged from human
which centers on her experiences as a young girl in relationships to the aftermath of Hiroshima. She
an effort to better understand her adult self. pays homage to the victims of the nuclear attack
there through meticulous photographs of
garments worn on the day of the bombing. For
SELF TAUGHT Ishiuchi, “surfaces” continue to have the power to
testify to an event's profound and lasting trauma.
Ishiuchi was introduced to photography by a
boyfriend who supplied her with the necessary
equipment, she also credits her development to
the influence of Shomei Tomatsu and Daido
Moriyama, important members of what was then an
almost exclusively boys' club of Japanese photog-
raphy. She was also influenced by the work of VIVO
photographer Kikuji Kawada, whose photobook
Chizu (The Map), opened her eyes to the potential
02
of the photographic medium. All images by Miyako Ishiuchi © the artist
Miyako Ishiuchi, Clubs & Courts #1, from the series Clubs & Courts, 1988-90
04
Miyako Ishiuchi, Clubs & Courts #53, from the series Clubs & Courts, 1988-90
Miyako Ishiuchi, Yokosuka Story #30, from the series Yokosuka Story, 1976-77
05
Miyako Ishiuchi, Yokosuka Story #98, from the series Yokosuka Story, 1976-77
08 10 12
Miyako Ishiuchi, Yokosuka Story #12, from the series Yokosuka Story, 1976-77 Miyako Ishiuchi, Clubs & Courts #79, from the series Clubs & Courts, 1988-90 Miyako Ishiuchi, Clubs & Courts #23, from the series Clubs & Courts, 1988-90
PRESENTATION
28 The
03 The
Provoke
Provoke
Generation
Generation
/ Portfolio
/ Concept
THE COLLOTYPE PRINT
The inaugural volume of the JPP Portfolio Series, The Provoke Generation: Rebels in a Turbulent
Time, features the seminal works of game-changing artists of the 60s and 70s. Included in the
portfolio are hand-printed collotypes by Yutaka Takanashi, Takuma Nakahira, Daido Moriyama,
Hitomi Watanabe, Kazuo Kitai, Miyako Ishiuchi as well as forewords by leading photography experts
and historians and biographies by renowned Japanese art critics. This Portfolio Series is a project by
the Japanese Photography Project: A collaboration of Project Basho and Benrido Collotype Atelier.
SPECIFICATIONS
Photographs:
Forewords:
Simon Baker – PROVOKE: Provocative Materials for Thought
John Dower – Japan’s Turbulent Postwar Decades: Part I, the 1960s and 1970s
Biographies:
Kotaro Iizawa and Ryuichi Kaneko
Presentation Box:
Custom-designed wooden box ideal for both conservation and display available in four finishes:
Espresso/Clear Maple/Black Cherry/Cherry
Editions:
75 signed editions - all six cover photos signed by respective artists*
425 standard editions - choice of one cover photo
Dimensions:
Print size: 8 x 10 in
Box size: 9.125 x 11.125 x 3.75 in
Price:
Standard edition: $1750
Signed edition: $3550
Publisher:
Benrido Inc.
302 Shinmachi-Takeyamachi Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
www.benrido-collotype.today
Learn more >
*Takuma Nakahira's (1938-2015) signature is an official replica.
www.jpp.today