22nd of september, 7 PM – Tokyo, Midtown Hall
VIPs wait at the end of a sympathetic queue, the fruit of success for the 3rd edition of the Tokyo Photo Fair. Just enough time to notice how the young crowd, mixed in with a few hip forty-year olds and half a dozen women in traditional kimonos, are patient. We are far from the elbow jabbing big european fairs, and thank goodness.
From September 23rd to the 25th, 17 galleries (against 30 last year) and 6 editors showcase their artists and put forth their modern and contemporary photographic troves. The peppering of american and european “masters” : Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and Irving Penn (Picture Photo Space, Osaka), Harry Callahan and Rischard Misrach (Photo Gallery International, Tokyo), Elliott Erwitt (Magnum Photos, Tokyo) or Andy Warhol (Danziger Gallery, New York), do not outshine the local photography. Perhaps a work like Yasohiro Ishimoto’s car garage shot in 1966 (Photo Gallery International) is a tribute to western photographic tradition, but others seek their inspiration from Japan’s own artistic roots, predating the invention of the negative. Drawing and etching are a starting point for the young Megumu Takasaki (Picture Photo Space) whose vertical alignement of prints of dark leafy backgrounds reminds one of folding panels. Toshiro Sato’s series of trees surrounded by fireflies (Zeit-Foto Salon) harken back to ancestral fairy tales. Daido Moriyama’s unleashed, overt, yet unabashed eroticism makes some of Lee Friedlander’s nudes look almost academic. Finally, the transformation of the photographic print into collage, which have been done by David Hockney, are pushed to a new level in Sohei Nishino’s aerial city maps (EMON Photo Gallery). Nishino has recreated bird’s eye views (here in color and nocturnal) of whole imaginary cities using fragments of images he shot in various locations (the only recognizable one in this piece is the Galeries Lafayettes building in Paris).
As Chris Shaw (who presents his biting series Life As a Night Porter curated by Simon Baker of the Tate Modenr) put it : “The japanese photographers are the best in the world, they understood everything before anybody else, and they remain a major source of inspiration to my work.”
So why so many people, so much thirst to see, to discover, and less galleries this year? The March 11 incidents have weighed on the event. Between the local galeries (10 less than last year) and a few international ones pulling out in face of a looming economic crisis, the fair was at half capacity compared to 2010.
Despite this and their biggest sponsor deserting them, the creators of the Tokyo Photo Fair : Tomohiro Harada and Takeshi “Arthur” Thornton decided to pursue this third adventure. And we thank them for it.
The fair, titled “Charity”, also spotlighted a cultural solidarity project led by the energetic attachée from the French Embassy : Hélène Kalmachter. “France-Japan : together for tomorrow” showed assigments on Tohoku by Japanese and European photographers. It was the occasion for viewers to discover the region devestated by the earthquake and tsunami, through different visual approaches. In continuation of the charity auction held at Drouot Montaigne in Paris on June 20th and supported by Issey Miyake, the French ambassador to Japan, Philippe Faure, has mobilized his staff to create even more events whose benefits will help Tohoku. Fifty percent of each print sale will be donated to a non-governmental association. The other half will go to the artist.
Christophe Lunn
Tokyo Photo 2011 Tokyo, Midtown Hall A (a 5 minutes walk from Roppongi station)
From September 23rd – 25th
11AM – 8 PM (23/09 – 24/09)
11AM – 6 PM (25/09)
In Tokyo also see : “Irving Penn and Issey Miyake” Visual Dialogue
21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
Tokyo Midtown Garden, 9-7-6
Until April 8th 2012
11AM – 8 PM daily (door closes at 7:30 PM)
http://www.2121designsight.jp
