shashasha

This is the 54th issue of Daido Moriyama’s ongoing “Record” series. Following the original five-issue run in 1972, Moriyama relaunched the zine-in-spirit photobook series in 2006 as a regular outlet for his photography.

For number 54, Moriyama photographed in locations in and around Tokyo, including snapshots of street scenes, passersby and tourists, desolate-looking buildings that act either as subject or background, metal structures and glimpses of the local nightlife – but also several personal images such as a photo of a photo of Masahisa Fukase or of a pinboard with mementos.

“Back home, I found myself alone in the kitchen at night, and while having another cigarette or two, I reviewed the results of my own shooting spree in the alleys of Kami-Ooka. “I guess two or three of them will be alright for Record,” I concluded while thinking about the next issue. I remembered also photographing a long line of people and wondered what they were queueing up for, while lighting another cigarette. Another day in the life of the photographer that I am was casually drawing to an end. And tomorrow, I thought, I’m going to take a stroll around Ofuna.”
― from Daido Moriyama’s afterword (included in Japanese and English)