shashasha

“Momoe” is an extra fifth issue in Daido Moriyama’s four-book series “Woman in the Night.” Following “Shinobu”, “Hiroko”, “Naomi” and “Yukari”, the titular motif of Momoe is a woman from Ishikari in Hokkaido. Like with the other entries in this series, Moriyama keeps the meaning of these women’s names and their relation intentionally vague and offers a photographic profile as it exists in his memory. Moriyama’s black-and-white photographs in “Momoe” are dripping with Moriyama’s signature style as always, with street snaps, textures, signboards and nude shots forming a rich, dark, atmospheric mood unfolding page after page after page.

“She called herself Shinobu in Shinjuku, Hiroko in Minami, Naomi in Nishiki, Yukari in Nakasu.
Rumor has it that she is now living quietly in Ishikari where she was born, under the name she was given by her parents.
Momoe. I still think of her every once in a while.
This is a profile of her that lives on in my memory.”
― Daido Moriyama