Studio Equis

Eyes of an Island, Japanese Photography 1945-2007

94 pages, 54 photographic illustrations (black-and-white and colour). Limited edition of 1,000 copies published by Studio Equis and Guiding Light in 2007 to accompany the exhibition Eyes of an Island. With an introduction by Marc Feustel.

Japan has been at the forefront of photography throughout the 20th century: photography was both a product of and a driving force in modernisation. This book charts three stages of development in this period of Japanese photography: from post-war documentary bearing witness to the destruction of war; turning inward to personal and subjective interpretations of the rapid changes in Japanese society; to a contemporary movement which consistently pushes the boundaries of the photographic medium. These photographers illustrate the diversity and virtuosity of the unique Japanese visual language.

Photographers
Nobuyoshi Araki, Hiroshi Hamaya, Naoya Hatakeyama, Eikoh Hosoe, Ryuji Miyamoto, Daido Moriyama, Shigeichi Nagano, Takeyoshi Tanuma, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Shomei Tomatsu, Hiromi Tsuchida and Shoji Ueda.

Japanese Postwar Photography

48 pages, 20 black-and-white photographic illustrations. Limited edition published by Studio Equis in 2005. With an introduction by Marc Feustel.

Japanese Postwar Photography presents work by three of Japan's most influential and prolific photographers of the postwar years, Hiroshi Hamaya, Shigeichi Nagano and Takeyoshi Tanuma. This catalogue presents a selection of 20 photographs from the immediate postwar period (late 1940s to the early 1960s) with an introduction by Marc Feustel and biographies of the photographers. Japanese Postwar Photography was published to coincide with an exhibition held in Paris at the Librairie Forgeot in November 2005.

Photographers
Hiroshi Hamaya, Shigeichi Nagano and Takeyoshi Tanuma.

Japan: a Self-Portrait, Photographs 1945-1964

216 pages, 150 black-and-white photographic illustrations. Published by Flammarion in English and French in 2004. Japanese co-edition published by Iwanami Shoten.

From the end of the Pacific War in 1945 to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, photography blossomed in Japan as the country underwent radical change. Documentary photography shifted focus from the hardship and destruction of war to the human will for survival and sense of solidarity. By the mid-1950s, Japan was at a crossroads between tradition and modernization, a moment fraught with contradiction, immortalized by the most talented photographers of the time.

The 150 photographs featured in this anthology are accompanied by essays by renowned Japanese experts, who provide fascinating insight into this period and its photographic output, from both a historical and social perspective. The first comprehensive review of this period in Japanese photography, Japan: a Self-Portrait offers a moving tribute to the nation’s strength in the face of social upheaval and a rare chance to view the depth of its artistic talent.

Authors
Osamu Hiraki, Alain Sayag and Keiichi Takeuchi. Edited by Marc Feustel.

Photographers
Ken Domon, Hiroshi Hamaya, Tadahiko Hayashi, Eikoh Hosoe, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Ihee Kimura, Shigeichi Nagano, Ikko Narahara, Takeyoshi Tanuma, and Shomei Tomatsu.