The 1980s
“To focus on reality or be concerned with memory, choices that, at first glance, seem opposite are, in fact, identical twins for me.”
The second part of this retrospective presents Daido Moriyama’s work after his depression and creative crisis in the late 1970s. With the help of editor friends, Moriyama started to photograph again and decided to investigate the essence of images and of himself. To face the wall of reality, he had to take a step backwards.
In 1982, his series “Light and Shadow” was published in the magazine Shashin Jidai. When walking through the city, he rediscovered a sculptural and palpable reality of tight framing and glittering silver grains. The series celebrated masters such as Nicéphore Niépce, Eugène Atget and Nakaji Yasui.
Months later, he started to publish the series “Places in My Memory” in the magazine Asahi Camera, which revisited places which influenced his childhood. In texts and photos, he examined the military bases, the awkwardness of youth, and the death of his brother, father and mother, in visits to Sendai, Osaka and Kyoto, among other places. It was not about nostalgically finding paths into his past, but about bringing the territories of memory and cities closer together. His photography was born when scenes from the interior world of the photographer met those of the world outside. Walking was a means to encourage this meeting, carrying his camera on his shoulder to record it.
The resulting photographs synthesized an original reflection on reality, memory and walks that would unfold in the works which followed. In 1982, these images were gathered in the book Light and Shadow.