Daido Moriyama

Executed in 1970, printed later.

Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner

USA, San Francisco, San Francisco MOMA; New York, The Metropolitan Museum; New York, Japan Society Gallery; Switzerland, Winterthur, Fotomuseum; Germany, Essen, Museum Folkwang; USA, Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University; San Diego, Museum of Photographic Arts; various cities in Japan, Daido Moriyama: Stray Dog(/Hunter), 1999 - 2001, pl. 28, another edition exhibited
Japan, Osaka, National Museum of Art, Daido Moriyama: On the Road, 28 June - 19 September 2011, unpaginated, another edition exhibited
UK, London, Tate Modern, Moriyama Daido, 10 October, 2012 - 20 January, 2013, p. 66, another edition exhibited

Daido Moriyama, Kariudo, Tokyo, Japan, 1972, unpaginated
Daido Moriyama: The Complete Works, Vol.1, 1964-1973, Daiwa Radiator Factory, Hiroshima, Japan, 2003, p. 349
Daido Moriyama, Memories of a Dog: Final Chapter, Business Weekly Publications, Taipei, Taiwan, 2009, p. 109

This work is in excellent condition overall. There are no apparent condition issues with the work.
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Born in 1938, Daido Moriyama is one of post-war Japan's most iconic photographers. He transfers the raw ambience of the streets directly into the dark room, developing them into seemingly soiled and rough photographs. He makes use of high aspect ratios, strong contrasts and deliberately unrefined compositions to present, under a subjective lens, a post-war Japan that is characterised by drama and tension.

The image of Yokosuka (Lot 1007) was made in Yokosuka City, located about 30 miles southwest of Tokyo in 1971. When looking at this work, the viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn to the young woman who is running barefoot through a dark and debris-strewn alleyway. Portrayed in sharp contrast with the dark night she is running into, the woman seems to suggest that there is a sanctuary in the shadows, while the viewer is left wondering about her identity. In Yokosuka, Moryiama deliberately underexposes the image to create a highly stylized and controlled space. The camera angle at which the artist has framed the image successfully affects how we perceive and judge the subject. Here, the photographer and the viewer are the hunter, and the young woman has been portrayed as prey, under our control.

Stray Dog (Lot 1008) is the most well-known work within Moriyama's oeuvre. The seminal piece was incidentally captured by Moriyama in the Misawa, Aomori Prefecture in 1971, and has been widely circulated since its inception. It was under the morning sun, in front of an inn where Moriyama serendipitously encountered this stray dog. In the highly-contrasted image, the dog shows a sharp gaze, with the overall composition focuses on the left. As the artist opposes the idea of a set theme for any shooting, the stray dog was nothing more than a pure subject. Yet, in this work we can no doubt feel that photography is certainly a reflection of the artist; the stray dog roaming streets and alleys can be considered to be a self- portrait of the artist himself. This also explains why Stray Dog has become the most well-known work of the artist, often serving as the focus for many of his exhibitions.

Tights in Shimotakaido (Lot 1009) is an iconic work from the 1986 series How to Create a Beautiful Photograph. Unlike his well-known street photos, How to Create a Beautiful Photograph was serialised in 1986. The black and white series' overall theme is based on fishnet stocking and lips. Among all the works in the series, Tights in Shimotakaido is arguably the most popular piece. In the image, the fishnet stocking appears as an expansive net dominating the whole composition, fully capturing the viewer's attention. Furthermore the female inner thighs, in a simultaneous state of exposure and concealment, acts as a fitting metaphor for the suppressed sexuality in Japanese culture.