“It is not that I love Hokkaido, but rather that Hokkaido is my “love” that will probably never change for the rest of my life.”
― From Memories of a Dog

After working as a commercial designer and then as an assistant to photographers Takeji Iwamiya and Eikoh Hosoe, Daido Moriyama made his debut as a freelance photographer in 1963. The coarse-grained, high-contrast expressions that were published mainly in camera magazines and other media were described as “Are, Bure, Boke” and had a major impact on the Japanese photographic world of the time. His first major work, Japan, a Photo Theater (1968), and the controversial Bye Bye Photography (1972), which radically explored the nature of photography, are still considered among the greatest photo books in the history of Japanese photography. Moriyama’s stay in Sapporo in the early summer of 1978 was planned by him in an attempt to somehow escape the state of “detachment from photography” that he had experienced since Bye Bye Photography. There was a sentiment for the vast collection of records and photographs left behind by northern photographers such as Kenzo Tamoto during the early days of Hokkaido’s development.

“Each photograph, as if it had been carefully cut and peeled away with a sharp razor blade, seemed to freeze the things, events, scenery, and of course the people, a moment of time and light that was certainly present in that time and place, and petrified everything into a gradation of black and white. And because these photographs are rooted in anonymity, the photographer’s individual gaze fixed on the subject is all the more directly and intuitively conveyed. When I saw that series of old photographs through photo books and the like, they spoke to me as new images rather than nostalgic, and they have since taken up a long residence inside me.”
― From Memories of a Dog: The Final Chapter

Daido Moriyama’s Hokkaido is set to release after more than 30 years. In addition to a large collection of photographs, this exhibition, which tours around Hokkaido in a different configuration for each venue, has received a great response. Following the first chapter, the second chapter, to be held at the MIYANOMORI ART MUSEUM, SAPPORO, will feature approximately 220 works, including the latest color works created with digital cameras.

Feb. 19, 2010 (Fri) – Mar. 29, 2010 (Mon): Higashikawa Bunka Gallery
Jun. 11, 2010 (Fri) – Sep. 20, 2010 (Mon): MIYANOMORI ART MUSEUM, SAPPORO
Jul. 31, 2010 (Sat) – Aug. 22, 2010 (Sun): Otaru Canal Plaza
Aug. 3, 2010 (Tue) – Aug. 29, 2010 (Sun): Otaru Literary Museum
Sep. 3, 2010 (Fri) – Sep. 27, 2010 (Mon): Sapporo Parco Main Building