Japan Photography 1968

Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

The late 1960s saw the questioning of existing frameworks across all areas of the world. This was also true in the world of photography, marking the beginning of inquiries into the uniqueness of "photography" and the "history of photography" that justified it. In Japan, "1968" was a year of significant events that are crucial for considering the social framework of "photography" today, including the "100 Years of Photography - Exhibition of the History of Photographic Expression by Japanese People" by the Japan Professional Photographers Society, the launch of the photography magazine *PROVOKE - Provocative Materials for Thought* by Koji Taki, Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi, and others, and a special feature in *Camera Mainichi* introducing the trends of young photographers with a private gaze on daily life as "Conpora Photography."
This exhibition focuses on "1968" and questions "What is photography?", "What is Japan?", and "What is modernity?"

Contents
1. "Chronicle 1968 - To Transform the Modernity of 'Photography'" Ryuichi Kaneko (Special Research Fellow, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)
2. Illustrations
3. "The Whereabouts of the 'Record' Found - Reconsidering '100 Years of Photography'" Seiichi Tsuchiya (Art Critic/Lecturer, Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts)
4. "The Circuit of Provocation - The Path of *PROVOKE*" Masashi Obara (Researcher, IZU PHOTO MUSEUM)
5. "The Range of Ambiguity - Conpora Photography and the Era of *Camera Mainichi*" Yukiko Tomiyama (Doctoral Student, University of Tokyo Graduate School)
6. "Photography as an Act - The Establishment of the All Japan Student Photography Federation and the First Transformation" Ryuichi Kaneko
7. Artist Commentary
8. Chronology
9. List of Works

■ Featured Artists (in alphabetical order)
Nobuyoshi Araki / Kenji Ishiguro / Koichi Inakoshi / Ouri Umesaka / Rikuro Endo / Gesshu Ogawa / Toyo Kikuchi / Kazuo Kitai / Koshio Kuwahara / Kiyoshi Koishi / Shigeo Gocho / Kishin Shinoyama / Aoi Suenaga / Kiyoshi Suzuki / Masao Sekiguchi / Yutaka Takanashi / Koji Taki / Seiichi Takebayashi / Chotoku Tanaka / Akihide Tamura / Kenzo Tamoto / Shomei Tomatsu / Masatoshi Naito / Takuma Nakahira / Takao Niikura / Kozo Nojima / Yachiyo Baba / Toru Hamada / Hakuyo Fuchigami / Daido Moriyama / Makoto Yanagisawa / Yosuke Yahata / Unit '69 / Matsusaburo Yokoyama / Katsumi Watanabe / Manabu Watanabe