Daido Moriyama is a Japanese photographer who is known for his photographs depicting the breakdown of traditional values in post war Japan. This photograph is called 'Shinjuku'. I chose to analysis this piece as its strong contrasts and mysterious look attracted me to it. It's a little hard to make out what exactly it is and this just makes the photograph 'that' more intriguing.
In my opinion I would say that Moriyama's style of photography is very gritty and almost careless in certain aspects. It can definitely be compared to the works done by William Klein, who happens to be one of Moriyama's most influential photographers. I think the theme of Moriyama's work is 'gritty' street life and capturing Shinkjuku street life. Moriyama describes his photography as gestures of his internal desire. As I believe his photographs aren't merely records of Shinkjuku they are far more personal than that. "There are many desires inside, and I don’t really care about social systems or the world’s view. My photography is rooted in my personal desires, so it is natural that it gets personal."
In an interview Moriyama says that he prefers to use small compact cameras as a pose to big bulky SLR's.“If you use a SLR, you see things like this [holds camera to eye]. And when you do this, you want to have perfect focus. The moment which you want to capture does not fit your feeling, if you do this. If you are using a compact camera, it is simple[While holding SLR to eye] Also furthermore, if you [use a SLR in front of your eyes] many people in Shinjuku, people turn their faces, or flee.” The benefits of shooting with a such a camera is that you wouldn't have to worry about focusing or things such as exposure since the camera would do all the work for you. What Daido says is that by doing it this way it allows the photographer to focus more on the nature of the photograph and all the feeling it carries, rather than the camera settings. Another benefit of Daido's method is that it is less 'threatening' to the public and therefore allows for more candid photography.
A lot of his documentary work is in black and white and it is highly contrast. This really allows the photographer to captivate the viewer rather than distract them with a lot of colour. The use of black and white in his photographs give off a very mysterious and almost erotic mood to his photographs, some more than others. “The reason why I think black and white photography is erotic is completely due to my body’s instinctive response. Monochrome has stronger elements of abstraction or symbolism. This is perhaps an element of taking you to another place. Black and white has that physical effect on me. That’s just the way I respond to things.” We already see the world in colour, therefore capturing photographs in black and white is form of break from that, the photographs in turn become a lot more symbolic and meaningful.
I choose to look at his work as I've always had a big interest in documentary photography and when I was told to look at Daido Moriyama's work, I instantly thought that I wanted to create a final piece inspired by his work. He is very unpretentious when it comes to his photography which is what I think makes his work unique. His approach to his work is very casual with the use of his simple compact camera. The thing which I find most inspiring about his work is that he doesn't simply snap a photograph, he always has some personal connection with each image; he wouldn't simply take a photograph just because it was appealing to the eyes.
Moriyama's work has inspired me to slow down on the notion of trying to achieve the 'perfect' image, don't think about the camera settings too much as this will distract me from actually taking the photograph.
In an interview Moriyama says that he prefers to use small compact cameras as a pose to big bulky SLR's.“If you use a SLR, you see things like this [holds camera to eye]. And when you do this, you want to have perfect focus. The moment which you want to capture does not fit your feeling, if you do this. If you are using a compact camera, it is simple[While holding SLR to eye] Also furthermore, if you [use a SLR in front of your eyes] many people in Shinjuku, people turn their faces, or flee.” The benefits of shooting with a such a camera is that you wouldn't have to worry about focusing or things such as exposure since the camera would do all the work for you. What Daido says is that by doing it this way it allows the photographer to focus more on the nature of the photograph and all the feeling it carries, rather than the camera settings. Another benefit of Daido's method is that it is less 'threatening' to the public and therefore allows for more candid photography.
A lot of his documentary work is in black and white and it is highly contrast. This really allows the photographer to captivate the viewer rather than distract them with a lot of colour. The use of black and white in his photographs give off a very mysterious and almost erotic mood to his photographs, some more than others. “The reason why I think black and white photography is erotic is completely due to my body’s instinctive response. Monochrome has stronger elements of abstraction or symbolism. This is perhaps an element of taking you to another place. Black and white has that physical effect on me. That’s just the way I respond to things.” We already see the world in colour, therefore capturing photographs in black and white is form of break from that, the photographs in turn become a lot more symbolic and meaningful.
I choose to look at his work as I've always had a big interest in documentary photography and when I was told to look at Daido Moriyama's work, I instantly thought that I wanted to create a final piece inspired by his work. He is very unpretentious when it comes to his photography which is what I think makes his work unique. His approach to his work is very casual with the use of his simple compact camera. The thing which I find most inspiring about his work is that he doesn't simply snap a photograph, he always has some personal connection with each image; he wouldn't simply take a photograph just because it was appealing to the eyes.
Moriyama's work has inspired me to slow down on the notion of trying to achieve the 'perfect' image, don't think about the camera settings too much as this will distract me from actually taking the photograph.
"The photos you take are a self-portrait of yourself, not others"
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