Daido Moriyama's Tokyo - a Monograph Review

Picture Taken from the book 'Tokyo' By Daido Moriyama

Daido Moriyama (2005). Tokyo. Japan: Reflex new art Gallery. p56-57.

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The Book Tokyo by Daido moriyama is about explorations in japanese street photography and its difference from american street photography. The photographs were taken just after the second world war so it is almost a documentary piece of work about japan rebuilding society and returning to a normal way of life.

Although the book is by a japanese photographer the book follows english reading rules (left to right) as opposed to the japanese Right to left Reading rules. The opening of the book begins with 6 pages of text written about Daido moriyama by Marcel Feil. He talks about How street photography is synonymous with america and new york and how Daido wanted to explore a japanese way of street photography. He goes on to talk about the style of the images. how and where they were shot and a few facts about moriyama. although the text has a few quotes from moriyama the fact that he did not write it himself gives a bit of a less personal feel to it

The images themselves are all in monotone black and white, they fit the pages completely with no borders, because of this the book is very unique. many monographs use glossy paper and white borders to retain image quality or as a stylistic choice but the paper and printing style is different for tokyo. The paper is stiff and very cardlike but retains clear image quality (when images are clear) and is printed very well for black and white images. there are no pages that are too dark, no matter the amount of shadows or highlights in the image.

The pictures are in a quick snapshot style and were shot with a small handheld camera. there are clear images and then there are blurred action images due to the quick shot style moriyama chose. The images don't seem to follow any specific narrative or meaning but have obviously been placed in a specific order. there are single page images and many double page spreads. They are very interesting to look at as it shows the cultural differences between the eastern and western world.

Summary of Nigel Warburtons essay on the image A snicket by Bill brandt

The essay I have been given to summarize is by Nigel Warburton on the image ‘A Snicket’ by Bill Brand. To start off Warburton talks about how the image has 2 purposes or aims, one being documentation of industrial towns and the other being how Brandt creates a ‘dreamscape’ a theme that is often brought up within the essay. Warburton discusses how Brandt’s work never really fit perfectly in to one category or another on multiple occasions and argues that while he was never really recognized as a pure surrealist he had always worked well in the grey area between the real and the dream world.

  talking more about the image itself instead of the artist Warburton talks about how there are multiple different prints of this image and how the one in particular that is being discussed is physically darker and more dramatic than other prints. This was due to the fact that Brandt was very prolific in dark room editing and would often re edit some of his work. This image was darkened dramatically apparently for dramatic effect and Warburton talks about how Brandt strips the image down to bare detail and makes it more geometric and mysterious. Brandt justifies his re editing and re interpretations of his work by saying ‘’photography is not a sport. I believe there are no rules in photography. A photographer is allowed to do anything, anything in order to improve his picture’’

 in the last section of the essay Warburton states a few points others have raised about the technicalities and symbolism of the image and discusses how that using a path as a metaphor is also crucial in 2 other pieces of Brandt’s work and talks a little more about his technical skills with geometry and reductionism before ending the essay with a statement about how Brandt’s work can be justified by the word ‘’surrealist’’ and a small section about the grey between dreams and reality that surrealists explore.

A Snicket Bill Brandt 1937

All that is Solid melts into Air - Liam Belch

The exhibition created and curated by Jeremy Deller named all that is solid melts into air is an art exhibit that blends and links many different media together to create one formative experience.  Ranging from music pieces to paintings and video to photography I find it unique in two main ways. For one I have never actually been to an exhibit that uses such a range of different pieces and two technically none of the work on display is actually created by him I believe that he collects pieces and uses them to show contrasts and correlations and possibly to inspire others into making art. It is clear from the pieces on display that the exhibit has a main focus on the days of the industrial revolution and how even in today’s modern society there are still remnants from the past present. 

Something that particularly interested me about the exhibit was the use of music. From the moment you walk into the exhibition space the first thing that you are likely to lay your eyes on is a solitary juke box stood against a beautifully painted wall, the paint representing either possibly an explosion or industrial process such as metal forgery. As I further explored the room I noticed a couple of album covers on the wall from the bands ‘’Judas priest’’ and ‘’slayed’’. Both of these bands come from the ‘’Black Country’’ which was a massive part of the industrial boom so already there is a relation and a link starting to appear.

 Another slightly obvious if a bit cheesy reference is that the bands play a genre of music dubbed ‘heavy metal’ I cant say for sure if this is what Jeremy Deller had intended or perhaps he didn’t really have an intention in mind but after looking at the painted wall behind the juke box for a while it reminded me of welding and forging steel and it made me think about how bands such as Judas priest and slayed have forged and wrought out their own careers. I suppose that one of the good things about the exhibit was that there was so many links and interference’s that it allowed you to think and come up with your own ideas or interpretations. It feels like there are no wrong answers.