| | Tadahiko Hayashi’s Boys from 1946.
| |
The popularity of photography as an art medium surged in Japan after World War II. Black and White: Classics of Japanese photography is a collection of 63 black and white prints representing the work of eight talented photographers, many of whom are particularly well-known on the Japanese creative circuit.Photography provides a powerful medium for expressing change and the ironies and contradictions it brings. In a country rocked by the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many of these artists chose to portray the aftermath of the bomb blasts. The idea that there can be beauty, poetry and humour even in the most dire of subjects is thoughtfully and gently captured in the works. From the agonising beauty of a bomb victim’s scars to the satirical image of a shrapnel blasted packet of ‘Lucky Strikes’, this exhibition provides an eloquent comment on the humanity beneath the historical discourses with which we are so familiar. Despite the gravity of some of the subject matter, not all works focus on the war, and a more light-hearted look is taken at other changes within Japanese society. The near surreal compositions of Shoji Ueda, for example, exude a very playful sense of beauty, as well as a deep awareness and attachment to the natural surroundings of his subjects. Black and White: Classics of Japanese photography makes for a pleasing mix of light and shade in more ways than one. It presents a worthwhile opportunity to see a personalised glimpse into a very different world. The exhibition will be on display at the Ateneum Art Museum until 18 Jan 2009.
Sarah Hudson - HT
Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum
|
