shashasha

“Shashin Jidai 1981-1988” brings together each of the six series that Daido Moriyama published in the magazine Shashin Jidai between 1981 and 1988.

After a period of low output and declining physical and mental health, Shashin Jidai editor Akira Hasegawa invited Moriyama to contribute photographs to each issue of the magazine, eventually leading to Moriyama’s comeback. “Shashin Jidai 1981-1988” reproduces each of the six series (including Moriyama’s written essays) published over 63 issues until the magazine’s closure in 1988. Moriyama used the creative freedom to experiment with different subjects and approaches, and to reflect on photography and his life.

“Tragically, more than eighty percent of his negatives were lost from this pivotal body of work. In Daido Moriyama Shashin Jidai 1981–1988 the complete run of essays or chapters that appeared concurrently in Shashin Jidai are brought together for the first time, representing the only way to appreciate them without acquiring the original magazines themselves.”
― from the publisher’s description

In the back of the book, photography historian Kotaro Iizawa contributes an essay exploring the significance of Daido Moriyama’s relationship with Shashin Jidai.
All texts (including Moriyama’s “Shashin Jidai” essays) in Japanese & English.