The Dai Nippon Printing Co. Donation of 1997

In 1992, on the initiative of its chairman Mr Yoshitoshi Kitajima, Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd., a large Japanese printing company founded in 1876, decided to assemble a large collection of Japanese photographs for the Maison Europèenne de la Photographie, and to add to that collection each year.

The latest acquisitions (1997) include a series of photographs on Hiroshima by Hiromi Tsuchida, spanning more than thirty years. Another important figure is Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose "Theaters" series involves theaters which have been converted into cinemas. To create these photographs he exposes film throughout the duration of a movie, when the house is lit only by the screen. Finally, Toshio Shibata is emerging as one of the leading new-generation photographers: his work focuses on expressions of conflict in nature and civilization.

The works of these three photographers are exhibited alongside those of Nobuyoshi Araki, Masnhisa Fukase, Eikoh HosoÎ, Daido Moriyama, Ikko Narahara, Shomei Tomatsu and Hiroshi Yamazaki. They form the backbone of a representative collection of contemporary Japanese photography comprising more than three hundred original prints.