In today’s digital era, where digital photography has become ubiquitous, especially with the proliferation of smartphones equipped with AI-powered editing and retouching features, there is a heightened appreciation for the authentic beauty of photography as an expressive and subjective art form. Daido Moriyama, a Japanese photographer, emerges as a contemporary master in this realm, and WKM Gallery is set to unveil “City Drifter,” a solo exhibition presenting a carefully curated selection of Moriyama’s works later this month.
Born in Osaka in 1938, Daido Moriyama commenced his career as an assistant to photographers Takeji Iwamiya and Eikoh Hosoe before embarking on his independent journey in 1964. Over the years, Moriyama has gained renown for his black-and-white street photography. Using a simple point-and-shoot camera, Moriyama captures grainy, shaky, blurred, and occasionally distorted images of individuals, objects, and urban landscapes, primarily within Tokyo. Acknowledged as one of Japan’s most significant contemporary art photographers, Moriyama’s influential monochromatic style has garnered global acclaim.
In the 2010s, Moriyama expanded his artistic repertoire to include silk-screen printing. For instance, in his “Scandalous / Accident” (2016) series, he transformed his early black-and-white photographs from the 1960s and 1970s into stencils and reproduced them on canvases. With such distinctive execution and boundless creativity, his artworks warrant firsthand experience to fully grasp their excellence.
Daido Moriyama’s “City Drifter” solo exhibition Dates: 23 March – 11 May 2024 Location: WKM Gallery Address: 20/F, Coda Designer Centre, 62 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong.
